A Whole Mess of Trouble
by girlreadsalot
Summary: Set after CoLS and during Beautiful Chaos. There has been way too many demons lately, where are they coming from? What is this storm Amma's talking about? The Shadowhunters are going to work side by side with Gatlin's favorite Casters, Mortal and their very own Linkubus to get to the bottom of things? Can the door that's letting the demons in be closed? Can they win?
1. Chapter 1

**Alec's POV:**

"Alec come out!" Jace ordered from the opposite side of the door as he knocked on it. Actually, knocked wasn't the right word. _Pounded_ would be more appropriate. He was wailing on it so hard Alec was half afraid it was going to bust right off the hinges judging by the shaking of the door frame.

Alec glared at the door with half a mind to keep writing and ignore him. He had found some distant cousins in an institute in the south, somewhere in Georgia, he believed.

"_Alexander_!"

Alec made a noise of irritation and rose from his desk, making sure to throw the door open hard enough that it hit the wall in the hopes that it showed Jace how infuriating he was getting. "What do you want?"

"Let's go for a walk." Jace said shrugging in his fighting gear.

"What kind of 'walk' requires gear?"

"Who knows? Something fun could happen."

Alec saw the glimmer of hope in Jace's golden eyes half-masked by doubt. It made Alec want to please Jace. He hadn't left his room hardly at all since he and Mag—and _him_ parted ways. He did miss training and fighting with Jace, but he thought it would be more of a distraction than the letters he'd been writing to his cousins after all. "Sure."

Jace beamed at him, it was a real, genuine smile. "Alright! Get your gear on and meet me by the elevator."

Alec sighed and flipped his worn-out notebook shut. The rest of the letter would have to wait until they got back. He dug through his closet, pulling his gear on over his navy t-shirt and his dark bluejeans. He found his boots, which had a fair amount of dust on them and stuffed his feet into them before lacing them up.

Steele in hand, he walked toward the elevator, where Jace was leaning against the wall talking on the phone. His golden eyes met Alec's blue ones and he ran a hand through his blonde hair before murmuring his goodbyes and hanging up the phone. "Ready to go?"

"Yeah, I was just wondering if we needed to be marked for this."

"Just a glamor, probably."

By the time they had left the Institute Alec had the mark on his arm. The night air was cool and damp from the rain that had fallen all day and had just stopped before Jace started relentlessly pounding on Alec's door.

"Where is Clary tonight?" Alec asked, his breath coming out in white puffs.

"Doing something nerdy with Simon." Jace shrugged. "Isabelle tagged along, lord only knows why."

"Do you think she's jealous?"

"I don't see why. I'm not jealous of the vampire, I know Clary loves me and that leech doesn't stand a chance against these looks."

Alec rolled his blue eyes, "You're so vain."

"Always."

"Where are we headed anyway?"

"Through the park."

Alec stopped dead in his tracks, he couldn't help himself. He didn't want to tell Jace that the reason he didn't want to go that way was because that would mean walking past Magnus's house, walking past the place where he had so many happy memories. Memories that were too painful to think about. "Can't we go this way?" He gestured to a side-street off to the right. "A—a shortcut?" He offered.

"Sure." Jace shrugged.

Alec was thankful that Jace didn't question him. He didn't think he'd be able to explain why he wanted to take the "shortcut" without choking on the softball-sized lump that had formed in his throat the moment he'd recognized the street.

As they continued down the street the tension in the air seemed to get thicker, it was a heavy oppression, like something bad was going to happen.

Jace was tense next to Alec, his hand on his Seraph blade.

"Do you feel it, Jace?" Alec's hair on the back of his neck was rising. He reached back pulling out his own blade. "_Abrahann_." He murmured watching the blade shine to life.

"Damn right I do and I don't like it."

The entire narrow street was silent. There was no barking dogs, no televisions blaring, or cars driving down it. It made Alec feel like he was being crushed by the weight of the tension. Suddenly, the lights went off around them, all in a line. One house after the other, on streetlight before the next, until the street was entirely engulfed in darkness. The only light was from their Seraph blades.

"Whatever is coming is going to come fast." Jace whispered.

Instantly, as if his words were a cue, one streetlight went on. In the center of the halo of light stood a figure in a tan trench coat, its face shadowed by a hat. It just stood there, staring at the pair of Nephiliam. Then, it advanced toward them slowly, its boot-clad feet making no sound on the wet pavement as it walked.

Alec felt Jace's muscles tense next to him as he gripped the blade loosely in his fist. Jace looked comfortable to the untrained eye, but Alec knew better. Jace liked to give the impression that he was indifferent whenever something bad happened, but the tension disproved the blonde.

"Jace?" Alec whispered.

"What?"

"It isn't alone. Look."

Jace's golden gaze looked at the ends of the street, where rows of demons disappeared into the darkness. They were just standing there, waiting for something. "Shit."

Quickly, the demon in the trench coat sprung, its human-like form was quicker than any human could ever be. But, just as quickly as it had sprung at the pair, Jace had stabbed it in the chest with his blade, disintegrating it on contact.

That must have been the cue the others were looking for because after the first demon went down the rest of them sprung and landed on the _Parabatai _like ugly on an ape.

Alec swung his sword expertly, slicing as many demons that came near him. He was huffing after the first wave. He wished he hadn't let his breakup with Magnus Bane hit him so hard. Actually, he wished that he would have let out his frustration by training vigorously instead of locking himself in his room.

Alec pushed his black hair out of his face, it was saturated with sweat and demon ichor. He spun and sliced a demon across the middle, the blood sprayed his pants and shirt.

There was a flash of gold and Jace was next to him, chopping of a spider-like demon into little pieces. "What yourself Alec! Pay attention!" He scolded before he spun and lit into another demon.

Jace was right. Alec couldn't let his mind be distracted. He needed to be utterly focused on the task at hand. Killing demons. Alec spun and stabbed upward, into the middle of a serpent demon who had tried to spray venom on him.

The demon made a sound that resembled air being leaked out of a balloon before spitting venom at Alec, hitting him in the side.

The effect was almost instantaneous, it was a burning feeling that seared his skin.

Alec groaned, but didn't have time to clutch at his side. The demons were coming in waves and waves!

"Are you okay?" Jace called at him, his brow furrowed as he sliced through demon after demon at an incredible pace. "Alec?"

"F—fine!" Alec lied. He slashed across his body to kill another advancing demon. He had never felt a physical pain so severe...well, except when Magnus had to heal him after a run in with a greater demon. "How many of them do you think there are?"

"I dunno!"

"Where did they come from?"

"I don't know!" Jace said, frustration clear in his voice. "We haven't seen this many demons since Alicante! Or since the battle on Valentine's ship!"

Alicante definitely beat the battle on Valentine's ship. But Jace was right, there hadn't been this many demon in New York since the battle on the boat. Where did they come from? Why were there so many of them?

"Do you think they belong to Sebastian?"

"Probably, that bastard!"

Jace didn't like Sebastian after Sebastian had connected himself to Jace. The only way they had been able to sever the bond was to stab Jace with a sword gifted to them from an angel. It was easy to say Jace was holding a grudge.

Just as quickly as the lights on the street went out they turned back on. Once that happened the hundreds of demons scattered, disappearing from the hell they had come from.

Jace swore colorfully and re-sheathed his blade. "They got away. I wish we could follow them, but we need to get this blood off of us before it eats away at our skin." He eyed up Alec carefully. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Why?"

"You're paler than usual."

"I got sprayed with poison." It was embarrassing for Alec to admit. He didn't want Jace to think he was off of his game after sulking in his room for weeks.

"You're bleeding a lot!" Jace approached him, pulling out his Steele. "Let me put an _Iratze _on you. You know they're stronger when your _Parabatai _puts them on you."

Alec nodded. He didn't want to admit that he was feeling dizzy. It wasn't until his blue eyes flickered down that he noticed he was covered in almost as much of his own blood as he was the demons'.

"What about you?" Alec asked.

"Just some minor burns. Come on," Jace put a supporting arm around Alec. "We need to get you home. You need to rest, we may even need to call a Silent Brother or—"

"N—not him." Alec pleaded. His eyes were starting to fade in and out of focus, he felt very weak, despite the _Iratze_. "Please Jace, d—d—don't call him. I don't want him to help me."

Jace looked at Alec like he was insane. "Are you sure—"

Alec's knees buckled and the world started spinning.

"_Alec_!" Jace cried catching his soul-brother.

The last thing Alec saw was golden eyes and a halo of golden hair.

* * *

_**Hi! Just for the record, this is the only one of Alec's POV I have planned so far. The rest of it is Jace. Next chapter will be from Link's POV. Please review and tell me what you think. Don't worry, this story is going to have a plot with some major twists. It is set during Beautiful Chaos and after City of Lost Souls. If you want more from Alec's POV please let me know! I can make it work.**_

_**XOXO,**_

_**Girlreadsalot**_


	2. Chapter 2

**Link's POV:**

Ever since the twelve tons of crazy that had went down in the tunnels happened things seemed almost normal in Gatlin. Well, maybe for some people. But for Link, adjusting to becoming an incubus was a little bit difficult. He no longer slept, and he wasn't allowed to listening his music at three in the morning without his mother busting down his bedroom door and shouting, "Wesley Jefferson Lincoln, what on God's good earth are you doin'?" . That would happen if it were her hymnals sang by Christ himself. If he was listening to one of his favorite bands: Metallica, Ozzy Osbourne, Guns n' Roses, or Screaming Metal Death Trap she would bust down the door, throw some holy water on him and start chanting in Latin, dead set on attempting to exorcise the "demon" that possessed him to listen to the Devil's message that was hidden in his CDs.

Link's mother wasn't adjusting to the fact that he didn't eat either. Of course, he didn't tell her that he couldn't eat, he just discreetly fed his dog fifteen slices of bacon, homemade biscuits, and grits just about every day. If his mother paid half-attention instead of clucking about everybody an' their brother and who fell asleep during church on Sunday she'd notice that Homer, the family dog, had gained at least twenty pounds over the course of the summer.

Link rose from his bed, which creaked and groaned under the bulk of the muscle he'd put on since John Breed had bitten him in the tunnels. He shut off his iPod, making sure to hide it in the bottom a shoebox, along with the other things his mother was strongly against, and slid it under his bed.

From downstairs he could smell his mother making barbequed pork. It smelled like overly-sweet, smoky, dead possum. He tried not to gag. Link needed to get out of the house before his mother force-fed him a sandwich—or twenty.

He thundered down the stairs and went into the kitchen.

"Wesley, don't 'chu be runnin' up an' down the stairs like that! You'll be fixin' 'em again!"

"Sorry mom." He said, trying not to breathe through his nose.

"Where are you headed?"

Link stopped, his hand poised in front of the screen door. "I'm, uh, going to Ethan's house."

"Aren't you gonna eat lunch?"

"Amma's makin' fried chicken and he invited me over." It wasn't a lie exactly, Amma probably was making fried chicken, but Link hadn't needed an invitation to go over to Ethan's house since he was nine. He also had to go and meet Ridley over at the Daree-Keen for their lunch date…even though he didn't eat. It was what she wanted, so he was going to go with her. Even if she just wanted to show of her hot Linkubus.

His mom pursed her lips. She didn't like the idea of her son eating somebody else's cooking over her own anymore than anybody else in Gatlin. "You be home by ten, you hear?" She shook her spoon at him, even though it didn't have as much effect on him as the One-Eyed Menace did.

"Yes ma'am."

It was hot out, but it wasn't hot enough to make him sweat. He didn't understand why his dad went to the library—the only public place in Gatlin where there was free air conditioning—to get out of the heat.

Link reached for the door handle of the beater and recoiled when the silver handle burned his hand. Okay, maybe it _was _really hot out. It was probably some weird quarter-incubus thing where he didn't feel extreme heat anymore.

He drove to Daree-Keen with all three of the working windows down, his favorite band blasting on the radio. It wasn't technically _blasting_ because if he had the volume up past thirteen it hurt his ears because of his new super-sonic Linkubus hearing.

"Didn't your mom teach you not to leave a pretty girl waiting, Short-Straw?" Ridley asked, a blonde brow raised over her sunglasses.

She was perfect, like always. Her pink tank-top was just a little too tight, showing just the right amount of chest, her short blue-jean shorts were _too_ short, causing the pockets to hang out of the bottoms. Her blonde and pink hair was knotted up expertly on top of her head.

Link grinned at her and bent down to kiss her.

"No." She replied, putting a hand up to stop him. She brought her milkshake up to her lips and sucked on the straw.

Feeling rejected, Link stood back up. He didn't want her to see that he felt like a kicked puppy. Instead he said, "You wanna go sit at the picnic tables out back?"

"Sure, I need to get tan anyway."

At the back picnic tables Savannah Snow and her group of pink-plushies were sitting around watching some of the more popular boys skateboard through the heat waves on the cracked blacktop.

Link grinned when he felt their group turn to look at him. Turning into a quarter-incubus wasn't all bad. He had really bulked up and all of the third-degree burn girls who had previously ignored him were now ogling him.

Ridley sucked on her straw furiously before turning to him and kissing him right on the mouth in front of everybody.

Link blinked in surprise. She wasn't a Siren anymore, but she still had all of the old moves. She was an _excellent_ kisser, and he tried not to think that it came from practice.

"Link, you look…" Savannah said eyeing him up and down from her spot on top of the picnic table. "_Good_."

"Back off, bitch. He's mine. You can have him when I'm done with him." Ridley snarled, sucking on her milkshake like it was a venomous snake bite.

Link knew that you were supposed to do that because Gerald, down the street, had been hunting in the swamp and got bit by a snake and sucked the venom out and lived to tell the tale…even though they had to amputate his arm. Maybe he didn't suck hard enough, but Ridley definitely would have come out of being bit by a snake with all of her limbs attached.

"Easy, Rid." He draped his arm over her shoulders and over Savannah's, causing her to giggle. "There's enough of Link to go around."

"Um, no there's _not_." She glared at him over her sunglasses.

"Sure there is."

"I don't like to share, so if that's the way you want it, Hot Rod, I'm out of here!" Before he could stop her Ridley turned in her pink flip-flops and stormed away, but not after she threw her milkshake down on the pavement angrily.

Link stared after her, his mouth hanging open. She would take him back, she always did. That's how his and Ridley's relationship worked. They fought over something stupid and then a few days—or weeks depending on Ridley's mood—they got back together before they fought about something stupid.

"It's okay, Linky." Savannah said, placing a manicured hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah. I'm going to go…" He trudged toward his beat up car, deciding that he was going to Ethan's house and hoping that Lena wasn't there.

When he pulled up to the curb at Ethan's house all of the windows were open and a strong smell of Ginger, Thyme and Sage wafted through the windows. Link could smell it from the sidewalk.

Amma must've been in one of her "house-cleansing moods". The last time she was in the mood to cleanse the house to keep "Evil from gettin' in" Ethan had asked her what it actually did. "I'm cleansing this house, Ethan Wate. We don't want no evil in here makin' a mess of the place. You and Wesley do a good enough job." Was what she had replied with.

Link pushed open the screen door, it squeaked on the hinges enough to make him want to wince. "Hey." He said plopping down in his customary chair at the small round table.

"Ever heard of knockin', Wesley Lincoln?" Amma scolded from her place at the stove, where she was making chicken, just as Link had predicted.

"Is that where you hit wood with your fist to announce your presence?" He asked.

Ethan's brown eyes widened in a warning to him. He mouthed to Link, "She's troubled."

"About what?" Link whispered back.

Amma brought the One-Eyed Menace down on the wooden table, centimeters from Link's fingers. "Don't you get smart with me! Or I'll be talkin' to your momma."

"Sorry ma'am." The last thing Link wanted was for his mother to send him to a church group, which was what she did when she suspected her son was loosing the respect for The Good Lord and for the Ten Commandments.

Seemingly satisfied, Amma bent to look at something in the oven. Cookies. Ethan had once told Link that Amma baked cookies when she was troubled because then she could give them to his crazy aunts to make herself feel better. Amma was troubled.

"What's wrong, Amma?" Ethan asked.

"There's a storm brewing and it ain't a question of _if _it's going to hit. It's _when_."

Not good.

Link met Ethan's nervous gaze with one of his own.

* * *

_**The next chapter set in Gatlin will be from Ethan's POV, most of them will be unless you want more Link (he's my favorite). How was this chapter? Let me know what you think ;)**_

_**XOXO,**_

_**Girlreadsalot**_


	3. Chapter 3

**JACE'S POV:**

"How is he doing?" Isabelle asked, her beautiful face a mask of concern and worry. She had been standing in the hall outside of Alec's bedroom for hours, waiting anxiously to hear if there had been some sort of change.

Jace pushed his golden hair back. It hadn't been good. The poison that the demon had sprayed Alec with had corroded his gear and his skin. He had lost a lot of blood before he had passed out. Jace, of course, picked him up and ran home telling Maryse to contact a Silent Brother. "Brother Zachariah did his best. It's slowing down the corrosion but, we need some stronger magic to help him. If we don't he's going to..." Jace's throat tightened at the thought of loosing his best friend, his _Parabatai. _

"We need to call Magnus, then!" Izzy said, turning on her heel and stomping down the hall in the impractical shoes she always wore as she fished around on her person for her cellphone.

"Isabelle, no!"

Alec hadn't wanted Magnus's help. He had made that perfectly clear before he had collapsed. He had been almost in tears when he had pleaded with Jace to find anybody but his ex-boyfriend.

"Why not?" Isabelle demanded, turning to face him. Her dark eyes were fierce as she glared at him maliciously. Her red fingernails curled into lethal talons at her sides. "He's _dying_ Jace. He needs help and if Magnus is the only one that can do it then we are going to call him!"

Jace was aware that Clary, who had arrived shortly after Jace had come back to the institute with an unconscious Alec, reached up and lightly rested her hand on his arm. She was trying to tell him to let Izzy call the warlock, but he wasn't going to let it rest. "We can find somebody—anybody else! You should have seen his face when I told him we were going to have to call Magnus. It'll only make Alec hurt more. Is that what you want?"

"I'd rather have Alec hurt than _dead_. And I'll be damned if I'm going to let another one of my brothers die!"

"Just—" Isabelle had a point. Jace thought long an hard, the silence between the pair of them stretching. Finally, he did the only rational thing, "Let me talk to him, please. Let me just see what he thinks about all of this." Jace pleaded.

"If you're not out of that room in ten minutes I'm making the call without you."

Jace gently pushed open Alec's door. Maryse was sitting in a chair next to her eldest—and now only—son's bed. Her face was troubled, making her look as small as Jace had ever seen her. Alec was awake, the Brother Zachariah's healing skills had done that much, but he was paler than he had ever been and his blue eyes were glassy. His overly long black hair was stuck to his head with sweat.

Jace knelt next to Alec's bed, ignoring the way the hard wood hurt his knees, he grabbed his clammy hand."How do you feel?"

"A little bit b—better." Alec stammered. From the look on his face it was very obvious that he was in a lot of pain still. Whether he wanted to admit it to Jace or not. Jace could read Alec like a book.

"Alec, you know that we should call Magnus."

Alec's blue eyes flickered down to the blood-flecked sheets. His long fingers plucked at them nervously.

"The warlock's magic would heal you. I can only do so much, young Nephiliam." Brother Zachariah said taking a few out of the corner, his hood masking his face. He stayed toward the edge of the room, though.

"Alec," Jace said sternly, "Isabelle is going to call him whether you consent or not. Just let us make the call."

"Will he even come? Do you think that he cares about me anymore?" Alec demanded, his voice rising. It was weak, but he was still almost half-yelling. His face was red as he tried to sit up. "Jace, he doesn't care about me any—" Alec started coughing, and the sheets in front of him were stained with blood.

Jace's heart sped up as he watched his best friend cough and stain them crimson. He clasped Alec's clammy hand even tighter between his own. He wanted nothing more than to ease his suffering at that moment. "Alec do you—"

Alec shook his black head and much to Jace's disappointment,waved Jace away.

"It is wise for you to leave now, Mr. Herondale." Brother Zachariah said coming to Jace's side. Even from under his hood it was easy to see that his mouth was pressed into a grim line.

Numbly, Jace rose to his feet. He couldn't help but watch as Alec coughed harder and Maryse pleaded and begged for Brother Zachariah to help him. Finally, when the image became too painful he turned and stormed out the door.

"Well?" Isabelle demanded, her hand on her cocked hip, her cellphone in the other. She looked like a loaded gun and her barrel was pointed right at him.

"He still doesn't want us to call Magnus."

Her eyes narrowed. "Is that blood?" She asked, poking the sleeve of his white v-neck t-shirt with a finger. "That's it I'm calling Magnus." She flipped open her cellphone and dialed the number. After a very brief conversation she hung up. "He'll be over shortly." She looked like she did after she killed a dangerous demon by herself. Cocky, full of herself, and pleased.

"Are you okay?" Clary asked, her green eyes full of concern as she wrapped her thin arms around his waist. She squeezed him tight.

"I'm not the one coughing up my own blood."

"You look like you need some fresh air." Clary started pulling him toward the end of the hall. "We can sit outside until Magnus comes. Simon is out there, he wants to know what's going on anyway."

They opened the front door of the institute and the chilly night air greeted them. Church purred and rubbed up against Jace's legs as they stepped across the threshold.

"Pull up a piece of concrete." Simon said, looking up from where he lounged on the front steps. He was laid back, a wrinkled and old comic book in his hand. "How is it going. How is Alec? Is he going to be okay? Is Isabelle alright"

"Not very good." Clary told her best friend. "We had to call Magnus. We won't know anything until he gets back. Izzy is...coping."

"Not good." Simon agreed sitting up. "I wonder how well he's going to like his ex-boyfriend saving his life...again."

"It doesn't matter. We just need him to get better." Jace said sitting on the step next to Clary. He put his hand in his blonde hair and rested his elbows on his knees. He had taken off his gear when he got but had a weapons belt still clipped around his waist. It was an extra one, not covered in blood and ichor. He wasn't sure why he had put it on, but it comforted him knowing that if he needed them that his weapons were right there. Now, he pulled out a knife and ran his thumb along the blade. It was dull, he needed to sharpen them soon.

"Jace," Clary murmured, wrapping her arm around him. "Alec is going to be fine. Magnus will fix him and help him get better."

Jace didn't want to admit that he was afraid that Magnus wouldn't be able to heal him. That _Brother Zachariah_ couldn't heal him. And if a Silent Brother couldn't heal Alec how did they know that a warlock could?

Magnus had once said that he had seen _Parabatai _so close that when one of them died...Jace couldn't remember what Magnus had said happened, actually, he didn't think that the warlock had finished the sentence at all. What _did _happen to one _Parabatai_ when the other died?

Jace picked up his head, desperate to think of anything that would take his mind off of the fact that his friend was dying. He spied Simon, his head bent over the crackled comic book as his dark eyes scanned the pages intently. "How can you even read in the dark, Daylighter?"

Simon looked up, "I have freaky vampire night vision. It isn't very hard at all. Although, if my mother saw me she'd probably go on a rant about how it would ruin my eyesight..." Simon trailed off, and for a moment he looked lost and a little sad.

"Simon, things will straighten up with your mom. You'll see." Clary said gently. She was always trying to be the comforter in these situations. In others, she was the one demanding answers to complicated questions.

Speaking of questions...

"I hadn't seen that many demons since the battle in Idris." Jace spoke up, causing Simon and Clary to look at him. "Where did all of them come from?" Jace sat forward, chewing on his bottom lip. "I mean, the last time something like this happened it was because a portal had been opened and all of the demons were able to get through. Is there a portal opened now?"

"If there is we need to find it." Clary said. Her green eyes were bright as she dug through her bag, pulling out a pencil and a blank sheet of paper from her sketchbook. "We need to think of all of the places it could be."

"Well, there's Idris." Simon suggested, what Jace had said had finally got his attention long enough for the vampire to set the magazine inside.

"I don't think that the portal would be opened in the same place...but, if Sebastian is up to his old shit again it wouldn't be surprising." Jace said.

"Where else could it be?" Clary asked, tapping her yellow pencil on the piece of paper.

"It would have to be some place of great power. It could be miles from here, or it could be right under our noses. Egypt, Paris, London, Los Angeles, here in New York—they're all places of great power. Greece, Venice, Tokyo—"

"Planning a vacation?" A familiar voice drawled from the night.

"We're just naming places of great power."

Magnus grinned, but the grin didn't reach his cat-like eyes. "With me standing here it should be number one." He stepped out of the shadows. He wore tight leather pants, cinched with a glittering blue belt that had an M for a buckle, his black buttoned shirt was half-unbuttoned, revealing a few strands of necklaces that winked in the low light. "What for, may I ask?"

"I think that the demons were let in through a portal, which can be opened in places of extreme power."

Magnus looked tired as he said, "I sure hope not. That's the last thing we need. Is Alec in his room?"

"Yes," Jace said a little harsher than he intended. "Coughing up blood."

The warlock's weary face turned grim. "I see. If you'll excuse me I have a patient to attend to." His long legs nimbly guided him up the stone steps, through the heavy door and out of sight. Leaving Jace, Simon, and Clary watching after him in silence.

* * *

_**What did you guys think of this chapter? Kind of a filler, but don't worry, like many good stories the beginning is slow, but we will get the ball rolling soon enough! The next chapter is in Gatlin, Ethan's POV. If you want more Link/Alec POVs let me know! I can work something out I'm sure!**_

**_As a writer I put a lot of time and hard work into the words written in these chapters. Please let me know (I know, begging for reviews, very cliche) how I am doing, what I can fix, what you want to see, who you want to make an appearance, ect. by reviewing! _**

**_XOXO,_**

**_Girlreadsalot_**


	4. Chapter 4

**_Alrighty guys, here is Chapter Four! I know some of you are reading this, and if you are please review. I have BIG plans for this story. I'm talkin' HUGE. So, stay tuned. It may take me a while to update because of finals, but I'll do my best! _**

**_XOXO,_**

**_Girlreadsalot_**

* * *

I was getting my butt whooped, and that was saying it nicely. I'm pretty sure if Amma had heard some of the words coming out of my mouth she would have force-fed me a bar of soap until I puked bubbles.

I dribbled the ball down the court, my brown eyes focused on the basketball rim. Because we were playing behind the elementary school there wasn't a net on the on the hoop. There hadn't been for as long as I could remember. I needed to score some points, Link was skinning me up one side and down the other.

I hurried toward the hoop I dodged past Link's hulking figure, spun away from him, and shot for a three pointer. The ball should have sailed effortlessly through the metal rim, I had done that shot plenty of times before, but Link was faster than the ball, jumped off the ground and snagged it in mid-air. From where he stood he threw the ball and sunk it into his hoop.

"Link?" I called out to him, my hands braced on my sweaty knees as I panted in the outrageous heat. "Do you remember all of those times I let you win?"

The blonde stopped twirling the basketball on his finger and frowned at me, a crease forming between his brows. "What?"

Crap. I had forgotten that I had let him win and never told him. I guess I just thought that he kinda knew...or at least had figured it out on his own."I mean, you should let me win once in a while. It's like I'm up against an NBA player. You're huge!"

"You let me win?"

I stole the ball from him and dribbled, trying to cover my tracks, although I didn't think I kept all of the sarcasm out of my voice when I said, "Nah man, you had the talent all along! It's just now starting to show!"

That seemed to put the wind back into his sails because he smiled and held out his hands for it. "Yeah, the Linkubus is naturally talented, good looking, and smart. I don't know how Rid could resist me. _I_ can barely stand to look at myself in the mirror, I start to drool."

I raised a brow in skepticism, good looking? Maybe. Drooling? Definitely. _Smart _and _naturally talented_? I thought not. "Turning into an incubus changes people, that's for sure. Wait, you and Ridley are off again?"

"You could at least look a little surprised."

I would have normally tried to look more apologetic and surprised except Link and Ridley's relationship was off and on more than Amma's favorite apron I had got her for Christmas one year. I wiped an arm across my forehead, it just slid across it due to the insane amount of sweat. "Why are we out here again?"

"I was bored and wanted to play some ball. Why?"

"It's probably over ninety degrees out here! I'm sweating my ass off."

"Oh." He looked like he hadn't even considered the heat.

"You aren't hot?"

Link shook his blonde head, his blue eyes meeting my brown ones. "Like the other day, before I came to your house, I went outside and didn't feel the heat. I didn't even know it was hot until I touched the door handle to the beater and it burned my hand a little bit. I don't even sweat anymore, man."

I squinted through the harsh, unforgiving Gatlin sunlight to see his face. He was totally dry; not even shining! It was weird.

_Ethan?_

I smiled at the sound of Lena's voice in my head as she interrupted my assment of Link's lack-of-sweat. _Hey._

_Are you doing anything important? _Even through Kelting she sounded like she was worried I'd was doing something that was more important and was worth doing more than being with her.

_Just playing basketball with Link...and roasting in this heat. Why?_

_Can you come over to Ravenwood sometime today? The house is nice and cool. Besides, there something I need to show you._

I wondered what Lena thought was important enough that she asked me to come over instead of just waiting for me to get there. _Sure_. I turned to Link, "Well, I'm going to head out."

"The girlfriend?" He made a sound like a whip.

I rolled my eyes. "Yes." _I'll be right over, L._ "Are we going to finish this game of ball or what?"

"I thought I had won!"

"Humor me."

I won't go into details on how I got my butt royally kicked by a quarter-incubus. Or how I was so hot afterward I almost tossed my cookies right on the cracked court. Needless to say, I took my ball from Link and jumped into my car and made sure to blast the A/C the entire trip.

When I pulled up to Ravenwood Manor this time, I felt something different. I wasn't sure what it was. It felt as if there was a strong magical energy—okay, stronger than usual—when I drove through the wrought-iron gate. It prickled at my skin and made my nerves jump.

I walked up the cracking front steps and the door opened for me. The cool air from inside instantly sending a shiver down my spine. My breath actually came out in puffs as I headed up the stairs toward Lena's bedroom. I knocked on the door frame and she looked up at me.

My heart stopped, like it did every time I saw her. Her black hair fell loose around her shoulders, her gold and green eyes lighting up when she smiled at me.

I crossed the room and kissed her. "Sorry I'm kind of smelly."

"I don't mind." She said resting her head in the crook of my shoulder as she squeezed me into a tight embrace with none of the intentions of letting go anytime soon.

_What's going on, L?_

She released me, looking up at me before grabbing my hand in hers and leading me down the stairs toward Kitchen. _I don't even know how to explain it. Kitchen has had off days before, but nothing like this. _She stopped in the doorway, _See what I mean_?

I did.

Kitchen was going nuts. Mixers were going full blast, no lids on them, which caused gooey and sticky substances to splatter all over the cupboards and walls, the flame on the stove was shooting toward the ceiling, cupboards were slamming open and closed, and the refrigerator would open periodically, make a belching sound and some sort of food would come shooting itself across the kitchen, splattering the wall next to the doorway.

I flinched as something that had once been a mango exploded near my head.

"Kitchen, just make me a smoothie!" Reese said. She seemed frustrated as she ducked to avoid a splurge of goo, but banged her knee in the process. "I don't even care what kind!"

There was a loud revving of a blender and then a _POP _and Reese stood covered from head to toe in a thick white paste! "Ugh!" She shrieked, wiping it out of her eyes. She stomped out of the kitchen, pausing at Lena. "Get your kitchen under control!" She huffed before storming up the stairs, looking more like her older sister, Ridley, in that moment than I had ever seen her.

_This is what I'm talking about, Ethan_.

_L, Amma said there was a storm coming. What is going on?_


	5. Chapter 5

**JACE'S POV:**

Jace sat in Alec's bedroom, he hadn't left his _Parabatai's_ side since Magnus had left. When he had entered Alec had been asleep, not even the roar of a Shax demon would have been able to wake him. Because the only available seat had been at Alec's desk Jace had took it. He had been looking for a rubber band to amuse himself when he had found letters in the bottom drawer of the desk. Not just a few here and there, but _a lot _of them, at least a dozen.

Jace knew that it was wrong to read them, but he couldn't help it. He hadn't been able to stop himself from unfolding the first wrinkled letter and reading the messy script written on the pages. By reading them he had found out that Alec had discovered some distant family on Maryse's side and had been keeping them as a pen-pal. As of recent, he hadn't committed—but still had tossed the idea around—to go and visit them.

This wouldn't have bothered Jace much if it hadn't been for the fact that Alec had admitted in his letters that the reason he wanted to leave New York for a little bit was because there were too many painful memories, and he thought it would be easier to cope if he was away for a little while. In these letters he had confided in strangers about how he felt, how his breakup with Magnus had tore him apart. _Strangers_, not Jace. That was what bothered him.

Alec woke, his blue eyes blinking open and focusing on Jace. He seemed groggy, but healthy and no longer delirious from the poison.

"How do you feel, princess?" Jace drawled, placing a smirk on his face as he propped up a leg on Alec's bed.

"Please tell me that wasn't a jab at my sexuality," He sat up, wincing slightly as he rested his back against his headboard. "I feel pretty good. Just stiff. What happened when—when I got fixed?"

Jace raised a brow at him. "Well, Magnus actually had to stop the blood from flowing in your veins—with the help of Brother Zachariah, of course—and by doing that he was able to keep the poison from damaging your heart any further. He said fancy words, did fancy things—you know, blue fire and sparks and whatnot—then he got a fancy check, and now you're here. You look a little rough around the edges, but that is to be expected."

The sarcasm in his voice was very obvious as he said,"Wow, that was very detailed."

Jace knew he probably should avoid bringing up the letters because Alec had just woken, but it was gnawing at him from the inside. The longer he sat there looking at Alec, the silence growing obtusely between them, the more those letters acted like an itch he just had to scratch."You're right, that wasn't very detailed, but you want to know what is?" He reached behind him and dropped the stacks of envelopes onto the bed. "Your letters to your cousin about how you were feeling when you and Magnus quit seeing each other." He tried his hardest to keep the bitterness out of his voice, "You know, e-mail is a much more efficient way of communication these days."

Alec's red-rimmed eyes widened as he looked from the letters, to Jace, and back again. "You _read_ my letters? Jace, that was private!"

"I just can't believe that you would confide in somebody you don't even know about your feelings instead of me! Somebody who lives two doors down the hall instead of two thousand miles across the country!" Jace rose, he wasn't yelling yet but he was letting Alec know that he was frustrated and clearly upset. Only one time in their years living together had Alec and Jace actually gotten into a shouting match. The end result was a broken arm, and bitter feelings full of guilt. "That's what _I'm_ here for, Alec. You were here for me when I needed somebody to talk to about Valentine. I'm here for you now. It's what I do, you know, besides killing demons."

Alec gnawed on his lip, his blue eyes looking down at his coverlet. "Sorry, Jace." He stayed quiet. "They've had a lot of demon activity down there in Georgia. They see more demons in a week than we see in months. I wonder what is going on, you know?"

Jace knew, he'd read it. "You were considering going down there. Weren't you?"

Alec nodded.

"You didn't think you were going to go without me did you?"

Alec looked startled at first, but soon a grin stretched across his pale face. "I was going to bring it up eventually. You want to go?"

"Of course, but Brother Zachariah said you need to take it easy for about a week or so, so no Georgia for you. At least not yet."

Alec smiled and lay back down on his pillows. After a long moment of silence he groaned, it sounded like he was hurting.

Jace was at his side instantly. "What's wrong? Do you need another rune?"

Alec laughed lightly and shook his head, mussing his black hair even further on the pillows. "We have to tell Isabelle and Clary."

Jace sighed, it wasn't going to be easy.

* * *

"What do you mean you're going to Georgia?" Clary demanded from Isabelle's room, her red curls spilled around her shoulders wildly, frizzing due to the rain, it just added to her fierce demeanor. "Alec shouldn't even be walking down the hall right now, let alone going to _Georgia_!"

Jace pushed a hand through his blonde hair, he knew this was going to be a difficult task, and it hadn't proved to be anything less yet. "Listen we aren't leaving—"

"Why would you want to go to Georgia? I wouldn't go, my hair would frizz." Isabelle said, as she peered around them from a Victoria's Secret catalog. "Not to mention the fact that they fry everything down there. Even Oreos." She wrinkled her nose and frowned at the boys, who were standing awkwardly among Isabelle's mess of a bedroom. "You two are going to get fat...and in a lot of trouble when mom finds out."

"No they won't." Clary said standing up. "I'm going with them. I'll keep them out of trouble." Her green eyes flashed at Jace, daring him to protest.

"Absolutely not!" Jace said. He knew Clary was big enough to make her own decisions, but he couldn't help it, there was a ton of demon activity where they were headed and Clary wasn't even close to finishing her training to being able to handle that. Sure, she had killed a few demons with him and Sebastian a few months back, but that was two demons in comparison to two-hundred.

"Yes!"

"Clary, there are going to be a lot of demons there. It's dangerous, and I won't let you get hurt. You haven't even finished training." He hated how he sounded like he was almost pleading with her. He was not opposed to groveling if it got him what he wanted.

"It's an _Institute_. I can finish my training there, or at least work on it. Besides, what's better training than hands-on?"

"No."

"Jace, I'm going!" Her tone dared him to argue with her any further, something she had probably picked up from hang out with Isabelle.

"Clary, absolutely no—"

"You know she'll just go anyway. She never stays where she's supposed to. Remember?" Isabelle added. "Idris, her house, the institute, the police station...I could elaborate."

Jace groaned, Izzy was not helping. "Thanks, Izzy." His tone implying that she was in fact not helping his situation at all.

"She's right, you know." Alec said. The color was starting to return to his cheeks, but he still looked a little rough around the edges. "I say we let her come with us."

Clary smiled victoriously.

Jace rolled his eyes, "You're being a lot of help, Alec. Thanks."

* * *

_**Hey guys! I know this is a short chapter, but don't worry, I'm still working away. I'm steadily increasing my length. Besides, this is just a filler (again, sorry). Please Review and tell me what you think!**_

_**XOXO,**_

_**Girlreadsalot**_


	6. Chapter 6

**ETHAN'S POV:**

The night air smelled like popcorn, heat, and tar as I drove down the highway from the movie theater. It had been one of our bi-weekly date nights. Link didn't come with us like he usually did, maybe because he and Ridley were on a "break" or maybe because Savannah Snow wouldn't have been caught dead with Wesley Lincoln in a movie theater. Either way, it had been a peaceful night with Lena. I was thankful for it.

"That movie was pretty good." Lena said from the passenger seat. She had her ratty chucks up on the dash, as she gazed out the window.

"It was great." I agreed. It had been a movie with alien guts, explosions, and third-degree burns. Essentially, was my type of movie.

"It's really dark tonight." Lena observed. She was close enough to the window her breath was fogging it up as she tried to look up at the sky. "Don't you think that's weird."

"L, it's dark every night."

"Not like this. This is darker than usual. Do you think Abraham is messing with nature?"

I didn't answer right away, it was really dark out. And, she was right, there was no moon despite the fact that the sky was clear. There weren't any stars either. The sky was just black nothingness. If it hadn't been for a few airplanes and satellites I would have thought the blackest storm clouds in history had rolled right in over Gatlin, and honestly, due to past events it wouldn't have surprised me one bit.

I realized L was still waiting for an answer, so I said, "I don't know. Can he do that? Is he even a Natural?"

Lena looked at me, a slightly scared look on her face. A look that made me want to stop my dad's car right there in the middle of the empty road and hug her and tell her that everything was going to be just fine. "Does he need to be?" After seeing my puzzled expression she continued, "Abraham is powerful enough that he probably could mess with the weather all he wanted without having the powers for it."

"That would explain the insane heat. Even for being nighttime, after things usually cool down, it is still _hot_."

"These bugs are getting out of control, too." Lena said, smacking her palms together, squishing a Lubber that been flitting around the car and annoying the living hell out of me since we had pulled out of the movie theater.

"Amma believes that Lubbers are an omen."

Lena smiled, "Amma thinks everything is an omen."

I laughed and couldn't agree more. But, Lena knew as well as I did that when Amma believed something bad was going to happen she was hardly ever wrong...actually, she was _never_ wrong. Like that time she had caught me and Link trying to make Rice Crispy Treats on the stairs in my basement when I was nine.

We drove for a long period of time in silence, just listening to the A/C whir as we stared out the windshield.

"I need to fix this, Ethan." Lena said finally.

"Fix what?"

"_This_." She gestured wildly to the eerily dark night and the constant humming of the Lubbers. "This is all my fault, I need to fix it. It's all because I couldn't make decision on whether I was going to be Dark or Light, I threw the world out of balance."

"L, it isn't your fault."

"Yes it is!" There was a breeze starting to pick up in the car, despite the fact that all four of the windows were sealed shut. "The world is falling apart just because I couldn't decide to be Light or Dark!"

"L, you chose to be both. You chose to be you and nobody you loved got hurt because of it."

"Except for you." She whispered. "And Uncle Macon."

I stared out at the road, my headlights shining down the cracking pavement. That was right, I had completely forgotten that I had _died_ but Lena and Amma had brought me back to life. "I'm here now. That's all that matters."

"Yes, but what if Amma and I couldn't have brought you back? You'd be _dead_, Ethan. Just like Uncle Macon had been before we had brought him back! Do you know how much it—" One moment Lena had been ranting, and the next she was screaming.

I slammed on the brakes to my dad's car, causing the tires to squeal on the abandoned road, fighting to maintain control and not veer off into the ditch. "What the hell?!" I demanded as a car rolled over and over down the middle of the road, slamming to a halt, the doors ripped off.

Lena jumped out of the car, running down the middle of the road, screaming. "No! Stop it! Don't do it! Leave them alone!"

"Lena!" I shouted, unfastening my seat belt and sprinting after her. I grabbed her and gripped her tight, struggling to get her back to the car. "Lena, don't go over there! Who knows what's going to happen? That thing could explode. We have to call 9-11!"

"No!" She shrieked, thrashing. "Don't you see it?! It's torturing them! Playing with them like a cat with a mouse!" She was hysterical, tears leaking out of her eyes as her mascara ran down her face. "Ethan let me go!" She shouted, as thunder roared and lightning cracked in the sky right above her head.

I squinted my brown eyes, trying to see what she was looking at. I only saw a car that resembled a pancake. "L, we have to call for help!"

She screamed, it was a sound of total fear and horror. "No!"

I kept my arms around her and started to pull her back toward the car, "Come on!" I felt something sharp dig into my hand and I dropped her in surprise as I looked down at bloody teeth marks in my skin. Then, I almost smacked myself when I saw Lena standing in the middle of the road fifty yards away, her body set in determination as she stared at the car, a mini-hurricane swirling around.

Lightning zapped something and the car went skidding on its roof down the road, closer to Lena, a shower of sparks from the metal igniting the gasoline that had leaked onto the road.

"_Lena_!" I screamed so loud my throat hurt.

She didn't look back at me, just raised her arms into the air, her black hair swirling around her as she chanted.

I moved to run toward her, but a solid wall of wind kept me pinned in place. "Lena!"

Lightning struck again, and this time I could have sworn I heard something roar.

Now I pushed as hard as I could through the wall of wind, breaking free. I ran toward Lena and scooped her up in my arms, determined to take her back to safety with me and sprinted back toward the car. When we arrived, I plopped her unceremoniously into the passenger seat.

"Are you nuts?" I demanded, pushing my sweaty hair out of eyes, the salt caused them to burn. "What the hell were you thinking?" I scrambled for my cell phone, which was in my pocket.

"Do you really think the cops can help them?" She demanded, a wild look in her gold and green eyes. "Look at them! They're being tortured by that _thing_! I don't think they can kill it! I tried, with all of my power in that lightning and it just made it angry!"

I froze, my brown eyes gazing out the windshield. I didn't see anything except a car overturned, and fire. "What thing?"

"You don't see it?!"

"No."

"How can you miss it? It's the size of a building!"

I squinted, but still didn't see anything.

"L, are you sure—"

"What the hell is that?!" She demanded pushing herself as far back in the seat as possible. She squinted, then leaned forward. "Are those..._people_? What are they doing?"

I squinted, trying to see out the windshield. I still didn't see anything. "I don't see anything, L."

"They're fighting it...how?"

"I'm calling 9-11." I dialed the number on my phone, before I hit the call button she stopped me, "They're killing it!"

I hit send and told the lady where we were. She assured me that they'd dispatch somebody as soon as possible. I hung up feeling self-assured. Then, I put the car in reverse, opting to go the other way home even though it took twenty minutes longer than usual. "Lena, are you sure you saw people there?"

She nodded. "You didn't see them?"

I shook my head.

"They were wearing all black and they were fighting the—the _thing _with glowing blades. It looked like they were winning. Although," she paused for a minute, staring at her black-chipped nail polish. "I think it was too late for the people who were in the car, Ethan."

"What did you see?" My stomach was churning.

"It was torturing them, spitting on them, feeding them its blood...it was ripping them apart. It ate their child..." Her voice choked and she trailed off, unable to finish her sentence. "It was probably a good thing you couldn't see what was going on. I'm going to have nightmares."

"Are you going to tell Macon?"

She nodded, her knees pulled up to her chest as she bit her thumbnail. "You're sure you couldn't see—"

"Yes." I frowned, wondering why Lena could see the monster and the people in black, but I couldn't. What did that mean? "L, why do you think you could see it, but I couldn't?"

"I have no idea."

* * *

_**Hmmm, questions, questions! Why could Lena see the monster but Ethan couldn't? **_

_**Read and Review, my pretties. Chapter Seven is coming up ASAP, so if you review I'll give you hugs and kisses...possibly cookies. Yes, definitely cookies.**_

_**XOXO,**_

_**Girlreadsalot**_


	7. Chapter 7

**JACE'S POV:**

"This is it?" Clary asked, her face pressed to the bus window as they rolled through a small city (it was more like a town) called Savanna Georgia.

"No, it is on the outside of the city." Alec replied, ignoring the stares he was getting from a curious African American lady from across the aisle. "Just by a few miles."

Jace was uncomfortable, being wedged between Alec and Clary like the innards of a cheeseburger. He had been sitting in that same spot for hours now, with people staring at him and his comrades the entire time. He knew it was because of the runes and scars, but Clary had insisted the a glamor would be ridiculous because they needed to board the bus, and if the driver couldn't see them he'd be a little freaked out.

"Excuse me," the woman who had been staring relentlessly at them for hours reached over and tapped Alec on the shoulder. When he glanced at her and looked away, unsure of what to do she became persistent, tapping his shoulder over and over again. "Excuse me."

Jace stifled his grin as Alec turned to the woman, "Yes?"

"Y'all ain't in a gang, are ya'? I ain't got time for your gang-violence and your bullshit, ya' hear me?"

Alec's face turned an amusing shade of crimson as he struggled for words.

Jace couldn't help but laugh, but he buried his face in his hands before he managed to regain his composure. "No, ma'am." He paused to laugh again. "We are not in a gang."

"I was just lookin' at them crazy tattoos is all. They look like you should be in a gang. Ya'll shoulda thought 'bout that 'afore you went an got 'em."

Alec stood up. "Stop the bus!"

The bus driver shot him a confused and irritated expression before pulling over to the side of the street.

They three of them gathered their bags and exited the bus, watching as it pulled away.

"What now, Alec?" Jace asked, putting an arm around Clary's waist.

"We walk."

Jace was irritated that they had to walk the five miles to the institute, but he was glad to see that Alec was feeling well enough to become uncomfortable again. For a few days picking on him hadn't been any fun. "I'm glad I live in New York." Jace reasoned as they walked down the sidewalk, where the heat waves were clearly visible as they rolled off the concrete. "It's too hot down here."

"I'm going to fry." Clary said looking at her freckled arms in the harsh sunlight. "Too bad there isn't a sunscreen rune." She grinned up a Jace.

Jace smiled back at her and kissed her red head. "There is sunscreen in your bag. Simon was being a mother hen before we left and stuck it in there."

"Bless his heart." Clary said before digging though her bag as she walked.

"What do you think they'll be like?" Alec asked.

"I don't know, you tell me. You're the one that had been writing letters to them for the past three months."

"Only the one I wrote to, but I don't know his name. Actually, I don't think he knows mine either."

"You were somebody's pen-pal for _three months_ and you never bother to ask them what their name was?" Jace blinked, but then shook his head. "I could be walking right into a sexual predator's domain. They would be all over me like a pit-bull on a steak!"

Alec chuckled but shook his head.

They had walked until Savanna had faded behind them and the city was replaced by rolling fields and cornstalks and the only other living beings around was a herd of cows.

"Are these your cousins?" Jace asked walking up to the fence. Sweat was dripping down his back and curling the blonde hair at the nape of his neck. He regretted the decision to wear a black t-shirt on the day there were going to be hiking through B.F.E.

"No."

Jace reached out and touched a curious brown cow on the nose, it was wet. "I've never touched a cow before. His nose feels funny."

"I think that's a girl, Jace." Clary said standing next to him. She reached up and touched its face gently.

"Why would you say—"

The cow nibbled at the front of his shirt, pulling it away from his body hard enough that Jace was afraid it was going to rip.

"Hey!" He exclaimed, tugging on it in an attempt to free it. When he was free he said, "You're right. Just like all women she's dying to take my clothes off."

Clary rolled her green eyes and pulled him along the side of the road, leaving the herd of cows behind.

"It's down this road." Alec said producing an envelope in his hand, which had the address of the institute they were searching for printed in scrawled hand writing in the top left-hand corner.

"Alec, this road is _dirt_." Jace said, his eyes narrowed in disbelief. "Who lives on an _unpaved_ road?"

"Jace, just bear with me, for like ten minutes." Alec said, not looking at his _parabatai_ as he walked down the dirt road.

"This is a hillbilly heaven...or hell, depending on how you look at it."

"Jace, can you not?" Alec demanded, his blue eyes flashing in irritation. "Please be somewhat respectful when you meet my cousins."

Jace harrumphed but smiled weakly when Clary elbowed him in the side. "He's really excited." Clary said. "Be a bra."

"Why would you want me to be women's undergarment?"

Clary snorted, "Be supportive and be there for him."

"And hold his chest?"

She rolled her eyes, but smiled lovingly at her boyfriend anyway before elbowing him in the side again. "You know what I mean."

The dust curl around their boots as they walked down the dusty road, the only houses around were farmhouses with big barns, barbed-wire fences, and men on tractors. Horses and cattle stared at them as they walked past, a kid with his dog stared wide-eyed as he paused during a game of fetch when they walked past his yard.

"Here it is." Alec said, staring at the end of the driveway.

The Mundanes would see an abandoned church with clapboard walls, the white paint chipping, the windows shatter, a hole in the roof. But, Jace saw an institute just as fine—although smaller—than the one they had in New York.

"Are you ready to do it?" Jace asked Alec, eyeing him.

Alec nodded, tense and clearly nervous.

Jace placed a hand on his _Parabatai's _shoulder. "You're going to be fine. They're going to love you."

Together, the three of them walked down the drive and stood on the stone steps.

Alec raised a shaky fist and knocked on the door before he exhaled a breath that he probably hadn't known he had been holding until that moment.

There was a long stretch of silence, so long that Clary said, "Maybe they aren't home?"

Suddenly, the door opened and a young girl about the age of fifteen stood in the doorway. She was shorter than Clary, with chin-length brown hair, and green eyes narrowed in suspicion. The runes on her body stood out drastically in comparison to her pale skin. "Can I help you?" She snarled.

"I—I'm Alec Lightwood, I informed someone that I would be staying here for a few days?" Alec said, not allowing her angry demeanor rattle him.

A _massive_ dog peered from behind her legs, his hackles raised as he growled at them.

Jace stepped in front of Clary to keep her from being harmed, kicking himself because it was stupid of him to allow Alec to talk him into letting her come.

The girl scowled up at him, not swayed by his tall stature. "I don't believe I was informed. So—"

"Dale, what is going on?" Another girl appeared, she was the same age as Jace from the looks of it. Her brown eyes met Alec's blue one's. "Oh, hello. You must be...Alec?" She asked, stepping up into the doorway.

"Yes." Alec sounded relieved.

"Come on inside," She opened the door wider. "And Dale, don't let your wolf act like that or I'll chain him outside, ya' hear?"

Dale muttered under her breath and disappeared down the hall.

"Don't mind Dale she's...she's like that all of the time. I'm Mikayla Silverdale, welcome to the Savanna Institute."

Jace filed inside after Alec and Clary, shutting the door behind him. "Thanks for letting us stay here. It was very kind."

"Y—yeah! Thanks!" Alec seemed to get over the shock of meeting a cousin he didn't know he had and shook her hand. "You already know I'm Alec, this is my _Parabatai_ Jace, and this is his girlfriend, Clary."

"Nice to meet y'all." She smiled warmly and shook each of their hands. "Ya'll came just in time, supper's almost done. I hope you guys are hungry. Just leave your bags at the base of the stairs, Michael will be down to get them shortly."

The three of them followed Mikayla down the hallway. They sat at a large dining room table when she motioned for them to take a place. "Do you want some sweet tea or lemonade? I've got both." She drawled, a large pitcher in each hand.

"Tea," Jace said, taking in the view from the dining room window. The Institute back in New York was so big, and for some reason this one seemed much more...homey, like he wasn't a stranger in this person's house. He glanced at Alec, who was smiling. He was glad that Alec was happy, he hadn't seen him this happy in months.

"Here is this," A girl said coming into the dining room. She was carrying a large cast-iron pot and she set it down on the table. She appeared to be a few years older than Jace and Alec, nineteen—possibly twenty years old. Her black hair was knotted into a bun at the back of her head, her grey eyes were kind. "Hello." She stood up straight and without the large pot in front of her it was obvious that she was pregnant. "My name is Cassie."

They introduced themselves once again.

"Are..." Clary hesitated, her freckled face flushing. She seemed like she wasn't sure if she should ask the question or not. "Are you...expecting?"

Cassie smiled a sweet smile. "Yes."

"Do you know if it is a boy or a girl?"

"We're going to keep it a surprise. Mikey and I don't want to know."

"That's great. Congratulations." Clary smiled at her and squeezed Jace's hand under the table. After Mikayla and Cassie left the room she said, "Alec they seem like great people."

Alec smiled, nodding.

A boy entered the room, he looked to be about Clary's age. Maybe sixteen at the oldest. He held out his hand to Alec, who shook it. "I'm Flynt, you must be Alec."

"I am." Alec said.

Flynt's curling brown hair brushed his collar, his blue eyes sparkled. "It's nice to meet you. I'm your pen-pal." He pulled up a chair across from Alec, his eyes full of curiosity. "How was your trip here?"

"It was great." Alec said.

"Michael!" A Mikayla bellowed from the other room. "Get your ass down to the dining room! We've got ourselves guests and you ain't gonna make us look bad."

After a loud series of thuds another guy appeared in the doorway. "I'm Mikey," He had mischievous smirk under his goatee/mustache combo. Like Flynt, his light brown hair brushed the collar of his t-shirt. "But, you can call me Mike, Michael, or Rock 'n Roll Jesus."

"Sit down everybody." Cassie ordered as Mikey pulled out her chair for her. "I worked hard on them dumplings and I hope y'all are hungry." She looked at Jace.

"We are." He assured her.

"This one can eat a pizza and a half." Clary said nudging him affectionately.

The others laughed while they served themselves.

"Mikey, how's your shoulder from last night?" Mikayla asked as she spooned herself some dumplings.

"Great." The small man rolled his shoulders experimentally, "It's like it never happened."

"What happened last night?" Alec asked, swallowing a bite of his dinner.

"There was a greater demon." Dale drawled, looking bored. "A few miles away from here, almost in a town called Gatlin."

"You guys killed it?" Jace asked, leaning forward with interest.

Heads bobbed around the table.

"It was too late for that mundane family, though." Mikey stared down at his plate, his brown eyes sad and Jace couldn't help but wonder if he was thinking about the growing family of his own.

"What I wanna know," Flynt said looking up and meeting everybody's gaze at the table. "Is how the hell it got here. Where are these demons coming from?"

* * *

_**This was a super long chapter! Hopefully, it makes up for my crappy short ones. What did you think of the Savanna Institute? Did you like the Shadowhunters so far? Let me know what you think? I tried to add a little bit of humor in this chapter, because I feel like I'm boring you guys to death! The next one will be Ethan's point of view! Read, Love, Review!**_

_**XOXO,**_

_**Girlreadsalot**_


	8. Chapter 8

**ETHAN'S POV:**

I tapped my pen anxiously against my notebook. The first day of school had been creeping by unbearably slow. I just wanted to get the hell out of there and see Lena. I knew she was only a thought away, but I could never get enough of seeing her face no matter how much I tried.

"Mr. Wate?" Mrs. English's voice brought my gaze from the clock to her face. Good-eye side.

I glanced at Link, who was stifling a smirk behind one of his large hands. He discreetly lifted up his copy of _Macbeth_ and shook it at me so I would have at least an inkling of what the teacher was asking me.

I cleared my throat and shifted in my seat. "About _Macbeth_...ma'am?" I tacked onto the end in hopes that it made me look a little less stupid.

She nodded, impatiently.

"Well, I think—" The bell rang, releasing us from our four-cornered prison and I jumped out of my desk as quickly as I possibly could, trying to hide the embarrassing shade of red my face was turning. "Thanks for that," I told Link as I bumped his shoulder with my own. I instantly regretted my decision as his hard muscles hit my...less muscley body.

"She didn't look too happy." Link wasn't looking at me, though. He was staring at a pretty blonde ex-siren down the hall. He scowled, a crease forming between his eyes as he watched Ridley twirl her blonde hair, snap her gum and get Sawyer Coleman to carry her books for her. As far as I was concerned he was as much of a tool as she was.

I put my books in my locker and felt the electric sensation as Lena rested her hand on my arm. "Do you have any plans after school?"

I smiled down at her, she looked exhausted after the previous night's encounter with whatever it was Lena had seen on the way home from the movies. "Are you asking me on a date?"

"Maybe."

"Daree Keen?"

She nodded. "Ridley and I will be there in a few."

"I'll meet you there."

Lena's gold and green eyes looked around for her cousin, who had disappeared around the corner with Gatlin's very own playboy. "Did you see where she went?"

I pointed down the hall.

Lena huffed and stormed down the hall, muttering about how annoying it was that she had to babysit her own older cousin.

"Let's go, Link." I said grabbing Link's arm and turning him away from Savannah Snow, who looked at little irked at me as I did so. I didn't care, she could go to hell after what she had put Lena through last year.

"Where?" He asked after he had finished rubbernecking at Savannah and her cheer squad.

"Daree Keen."

"Why?"

"Because I want to go."

"Fine." He grumbled opening the door to the beater and climbing into the driver's seat.

I didn't normally drive to school because my dad needed the car to go to the university and teach. Link came to my house every morning before school, so I usually just hitched a ride with him, even though his arrival had become earlier and earlier since he had become and Incubus due to the fact he didn't need to sleep. I swore if Link showed up while Amma was in her nightgown one more time she was going to shove the One-Eyed Menace so far up where the sun don't shine Link would be able to tell her what the last thing she cooked with it was.

Link whipped into his usual parking space outside the Daree Keen, hitting the brakes hard enough for the seat belt to nearly decapitate me.

We went inside and I ordered a cheeseburger and tater tots and Link ordered a milkshake, which he would give to me anyway because he didn't eat anymore. We slid into our booth and I proceeded to dig into my food with all of the manners of a starving rottweiler.

The little bells over the door rang a few minutes later and I saw Link noticeably stiffen as a certain blonde walked in with her cousin.

He leaned across the table toward me, his blue eyes narrowed as they slid to Ridley and Lena, who were ordering their milkshakes up at the counter. "Did you know they were coming?"

"I knew Lena was coming." It wasn't a lie, I didn't know if Ridley was going to be here with Lena or not. "Maybe this will be your chance to patch things up with Rid, it probably can't hurt to try."

Lena slid into the booth next to me, planting a quick, electrifying kiss on my cheek before she started drinking her milkshake, leaving Ridley no choice but to sit next to Link.

Ridley scoffed and slid into the booth, not speaking to Link until he tried to put his arm around her. "Touch me and I'll use your limbs for a chew toy." She spat.

Link, rethinking his flirtatious move dropped his arm onto the table and scooted as close to the window and as far away from Ridley as he could possibly get. "So, you look pretty tired Lena." He added an I-know-what-you're-up-to tone in his voice. "What were you two doing last night?"

She rolled her eyes as she swiped a tater tot from my tray, dipping it into her milkshake then cringing as she ate it. _How are you eating those things?_ She kelted as she answered Link out loud. "Ethan and I went to a movie last night. We were up late because there was a..." She trailed off, seemingly uncertain about what she was supposed to see.

"A what?"

_Tell him, L._ I encouraged.

"Last night Ethan and I were coming home from the movie and there was this—this _thing_. It had crashed a mortal family's car and was torturing them and _eating_ them. I tried to stop it, but Ethan didn't let me."

Ridley stopped stirring her milkshake with her straw and cocked her head to the side, flipping he blonde hair over one shoulder at the same time. "What kind of _thing_?"

"I don't know." Lena admitted.

"What did it look like?"

"It was ginormous for starters," Lena said looking evenly at her cousin from across the table. "I zapped it with lightning and it started to bleed black blood. I don't know what it was, though."

Ridley's blue eyes focused on me. "Anything to add, Hot Rod?"

I shook my head.

"Ethan couldn't see it." Lena said. "I don't know why, but he just couldn't. I was trying to stop it when these figures in black showed up and started fighting it. That's when Ethan put me in the car and we drove the long way home. Ridley, what were they?"

"I...don't know." She admitted slowly. "I've never heard of anything like it."

"Neither have I." Lena gripped my hand, and I let her until it started to burn.

"There are no such thing as monster fighters in the Caster world?" Link asked.

Ridley and Lena looked at him like he was a pedophile at a candy store.

"Well, if it wasn't them maybe it was ninjas!" His blue eyes lit up as he leaned forward at the table. "How awesome would that be?!"

"The only person who may know anything is Marian or..." I trailed off, looking at Lena through the corner of my eye. She didn't like what had happened last summer between Liv and I or between her and John Breed, so she didn't really like it when I brought it up.

"Liv?" Link asked.

I wanted to smack him. "Maybe Amma will know something."

* * *

_**Sorry, another kind of short one...also, not that interesting. But soon, I promise TMI and CC will meet! Then, things will start to get crazy! **_

_**XOXO,**_

_**Girlreadsalot**_


	9. Chapter 9

**JACE'S POV:**

Jace, Clary, and Alec had been staying at the institute in Georgia for a few days now. He had learned more about them every day. Like, Mikey and Mikayla were brother and sister, that Cassie was a Shadowhunter that had been through Ascension, even though she and Mikey weren't married she was pregnant with his baby, that even though Flynt looked more like Cassie than he did Dale that they were brother and sister, and that Dale had a tendency to get really, _really_ mad. Like now, for instance.

"I'm going to kill you, Michael!" Dale sneered, her green eyes flashing as she stood across the dining room from him, dripping an odd concoction of flour and water onto the floor Cassie had just previously mopped.

Jace stared in fascination as Clary put her hand up to her mouth to hide her giggles.

Mikey was standing at the other end of the table, as far away from the door as possible and he was looking for a speedy exit. He had pranked Dale by putting a bucket of ice water above her door, and then when she went running through the house to find him he threw a bucket full of flour on her and the young Shadowhunter was _not_ happy.

Jace was standing by the window with Clary, watching the scene unfold. They hadn't been given a fair warning before the pair had rushed into the kitchen, Dale shrieking bloody murder and Mikey sliding across the table to get away from his petite attacker.

"You have to catch me first, Dale." Mikey said in a mocking tone as he went to move around one side of the table, but after a short command from Dale in a language Jace didn't understand Bledri had him cornered back to where he had started. Mikey looked instantly green, "Um, uh, okay. Listen, Dale I'm really sorry—" He broke off with a yelp and dove behind one of the high-backed chairs as a flash of sliver glinted through the air. A knife was protruding out of the shiny and high-polished backrest where he had hidden his head. With his brown eyes wide he peered around at the knife.

"Knives?!" Clary hissed in Jace's ear. "She's throwing _knives_!" She had found their argument amusing at first, but Jace had to agree that it was getting slightly out of hand.

Dale cocked her arm back again and another knife sailed through the air, striking the chair a mere few centimeters from Mikey's hand.

Despite the fact Clary was freaking out he was rather impressed with Dale's marksmanship. She was only fourteen, but she threw knives better than most full-grown Shadowhunters could. He was certain that second knife would have struck Mikey if he hadn't dove under the table.

"_Knives_!" He shouted loud so somebody could hear him. "Mikayla, Dale is throwing knives!" Mikey was fairly short and slender, but despite he size he was stunningly fast, which proved to be a good thing for situations such as this.

Bledri, who was Dale's wolf, followed Mikey and chased him out from under the table and the smaller-built man went sprinting across the room.

"Bledri, don't!"

Another knife glided through the air.

"Jace, don't you think you should stop them?" Clary whispered, her green eyes wide as she watched the scene unfolding before her. "What if she kills him?"

Jace didn't want to stop it, he was highly amused by this. They never did anything like this back in New York. There were no pranks, no arguments involving weapons...usually, sometimes Isabelle couldn't be reasoned with. Sure, the Lightwoods were his family, but the sense of family in this place was phenomenal. They took Alec, Clary, and himself in just like they were long lost brothers and sisters.

Grinning, Jace shook his blonde head. "I can't. This is entirely too amusing."

"Cassie!" Mikey called.

Dale was out of knives, so she lunged across the room and grabbed him, pinning him to the table, knocking over a chair and smashing a chocolate cake in the process. "I swear to god, I'm going to make sure you never walk again!"

"What the hell is going on here?" Mikayla demanded coming into the room. She was dressed in fighting gear, her curly light brown hair pulled back into a ponytail. With her gear on it was obvious that she wasn't the skinniest person. She had a decent amount of pudge which made her look curvy and the gear worked for her. Her first impression made her appear to be the same age as Jace, seventeen, but Jace later discovered that she was twenty, and was Mikey's twin despite the fact she acted much older than him.

"Look at what he did to me!" Dale shrieked, showing Mikayla her soggy, white powdered body. "I'm going to kill him!"

Mikayla reached out and grasped Dale by the collar and yanked her away from Mikey. "That's enough!" She lifted Mikey off the table by his ear, ignoring his protest. "You knock it off, too!" Now that both of them were at bay she said, "Dale go upstairs and get ready to leave for Gatlin, Mikey go put your gear on. An' if I hear anymore squabbling, ya'll are gonna be in trouble."

Jace was still grinning as the pair walked away, not a word uttered between the two of them. "Mikayla?"

The older Shadowhunter turned to him. "Sorry you had to witness that. Sometimes, I swear Michael is adopted."

"It's not that...have you seen Alec?"

"He's downstairs in the training room with Flynt. They should be coming up here soon. You two might wanna get your gear on as well. We're headed to Gatlin so Alec can look at that demon site from the other day."

* * *

"I can't find anything suspicious." Jace said from where he was crouched in the middle of a road that appeared to be even deeper in the middle of nowhere compared to the institute. The only difference was the road he was standing in the middle of had been paved once upon a time and the weathered and beaten concrete was starting to crack. He straightened up, sweat running down his back as the sun beat down on his black gear. "I'm not surprised, though. Usually it is hard to find traces of a demon minutes after an attack, let alone days."

"I just wanted to see if I could find anything that hinted where they were coming from." Alec said. He pushed a hand through his black hair, which tousled and stuck out at odd angles due to sweat.

"I told you there wasn't going to be anything here." Dale said snarkily, a hand on her petite hip as Bledri stood next to her panting. "I don't understand why we are out here frying."

Flynt shot his younger sister an annoyed look before his blue-grey eyes started sweeping the side of the abandoned road. "Dale, this demon activity isn't normal." He bent down and started moving dried brush out of the way. "I don't know about you, but I'm kind of concerned about the safety of man-kind." Flynt, for being only fifteen was the smartest person Jace had ever met. He found himself wondering if Max would have been that smart before Sebastian had killed him.

Jace moved to Clary, gently placing a hand on the small of her back. "How are you holding up?"

"I'm fine...I'm becoming an extra-crispy and freckled mess, but I'm doing alright." She grinned up at him, showing him that she was more than pleased to be out in the field with him and Alec, despite the fact she was getting sunburn.

"Guys," Mikayla said, putting a hand on her curvacious hip, a seraph blade hanging from her weapons belt. "I don't know about you, but I'm too hot to give a damn anymore, an' Gatlin ain't that far away. Why don't we go see what we can find there?"

They began walking, the intense heat rolling off the pavement in hazy waves, distorting the images beyond it. Giant bugs crunched under their feet as they walked, making Jace mentally cringe.

"How far is 'not that far'?" Alec asked, kicking a stick out of his way.

"Five miles." Flynt said simply.

The others groaned, but walked anyway. At that moment in time, Jace would have bet any money that Clary wished she had invented a teleportation rune.

It was five grueling miles, but on the outskirts of the town they came across an ice cream shop the locals called Daree Keen.

"It looks like something out of a horror film." Jace noted as mundane teenagers lounged about inside, throwing french fries, eating ice cream, and shamelessly flirting. "Correction, it _smells_ like something out of a horror film."

"Isabelle did say everything in the south is fried." Clary reminded him. She looked exhausted from the heat and their five mile walk.

"I don't know if coming here was a good idea." Flynt said, staring at somebody through the window. He glanced at Mikayla, then back to the window with a nod of his head.

Jace's golden eyes looked up through the window to find a girl with long, black, curly hair staring at them, her eyes wide. Moments after, a _monsterous_ blonde guy was peering at them too. The boy between the two of them seemed to be looking for whatever the pair was staring at.

"Let's get out of here. This way," Flynt said turning and heading toward the back of the store. "We can hitch a ride on a bus back for all I care."

* * *

_**Hey, I'm back! Things are really starting to pick up now and I'm getting really excited to write, which is why I've been updating so frequently. My goal is to get this done before the second week in July (It's probably not going to happen) because I'm going out to the National High School Rodeo finals out in Rock Springs Wyoming. I'm going to be competing in the BIGGEST RODEO IN THE WORLD! I can't wait! It lasts for twelve days with contestants from all fifty states, provinces from Canada, AND Australia. **_

_**Anyway, they're going to be meeting in the next chapter, so stay tuned!**_

_**Also, I'd like to thank my two reviewers who have posted reviews on this story for me! They're greatly appreciated. If you know of anybody else who would like this fic, please tell them about it! **_

_**XOXO,**_

_**Girlreadsalot**_


	10. Chapter 10

**ETHAN'S POV**

Link, Lena and I had been sitting in Daree Keen, talking and drinking milkshakes one minute, and then Lena was sprinting out the door muttering about people in black the next. Link told me that they had seen the people in black from the other night standing right outside the window, but much to my frustration I hadn't seen a thing.

"They have weapons, I'm going to protect her." Link said lurching from the table and heading for the door.

"Weapons?" I asked as I jumped up to follow him. I was pretty sure if they had weapons Lena would have been able to protect herself, whether I liked the idea or not. "What are you talking about?" I demanded as I followed Link toward the back of the Daree Keen, where Sawyer Coleman and Lindsey Ardford had supposedly hooked up one night after closing.

Lena was stopped next to the dumpster talking to somebody, Link standing next to her looking like her hulking guardian angel.

I couldn't see who they were talking to.

"What is going on?" A familiar voice said as the smell of bubble gum and vanilla perfume announced her presence.

"They said they see people in black...with weapons." I informed Ridley. "What are you doing here, anyway?"

"I saw the three of you running for the dumpster and I wondered what was going on." She cracked her gum, "Sue me." Ridley reached up and slid her brown designer sunglasses down her nose. "They see people in black?"

I nodded. "I can't."

"Neither can I...you're sure Lena and Hot-Rod haven't gone of the deep end...again?"

Lena said, "You were the people I saw the other night. What were you doing? You didn't actually kill that thing, did you? It was huge?"

"Lena," I said, coming up to her and lacing my fingers through hers. "Who are you talking to?" To me it looked like she was talking to a stack of boxes.

"You still don't see them?"

"They're right there." Link said, pointing to nothing. He looked puzzled.

Lena suddenly looked alarmed, "Wait what are you doing with that knife?! No don't—" She was silenced as one after one seven figures emerged from thin air.

I couldn't help but let my mouth drop open as I stared at them. "You keep that up an' a bird'll fly right in there an' build a nest" Amma would say when she caught me gawking like this. She'd call me rude for staring at strangers like that, but these were no ordinary strangers.

Each of them were in black gear, with weapons belts clipped to them. That wasn't the strange part, each of them had black tattoos all over their skin, they looked like symbols from a foreign language or something.

"How can you see us?" A tall kid with black hair and blue eyes asked Lena and Link. He had a gloved hand clamped over his bicep, where blood was leaking through his fingers and onto the pavement from what looked like was a knife slash.

"Yeah, you look like a mundane." The blonde boy next to him said. He wasn't bothering to attempt staunching the bleeding as blood ran down his arm and dripped off his hand onto the hot pavement. "Well, maybe not you." He pointed to Lena. "Your eyes, you may be some sort of warlock."

"You saw us fight the greater demon?" Another kid asked. He appeared to be one of the youngest members of their ninja group. He was medium height, his brown and curling hair brushing his shoulders as he moved forward, his blue-grey eyes full of curiosity. "You are the one that tried to stop it. What kind of warlock are you?"

Lena frowned, glancing at me briefly. "Warlock? I...I don't understand..."

"You were controlling the elements." A girl said, her brown eyes fixed on Lena as she placed a hand on her curvy hip. "You must be a warlock."

"I'm a Naturalist." Lena said. "You know, a Caster?"

The blonde boy, the black haired boy, and the red headed girl exchanged a look. "I've never heard of a Caster before."

"But you've heard of warlocks?"

He nodded and moved closer to Link, his golden eyes looking up my best friend from his sneakers to his blonde hair. "You...you're rather large...perhaps a werewolf?"

Ridley snapped her gum, pushing her sunglasses into her blonde hair and moving closer to the blonde boy with the strange markings. "Werewolf, where do you come from...hot stuff?"

The girl with curly red hair moved forward in front of the blonde. "_Excuse you_?" Her hand went to her weapons belt, pulling out a knife. "He's spoken for."

"Clary," The blonde said, a warning in his tone as he gently moved her from in front of him.

"I'm an Incubus." Link said puffing out his chest. "Well, quarter-incubus anyway. But, Ridley is right, where are you guys from?"

"We're from New York." The kid with the black hair and blue eyes said. "These guys," He gestured to the four others, "Are from Savanna. We're just visiting and investigating the strange demon activity in the area."

Lena and I exchanged a look. "Demons?" I asked. "I don't think there is such a thing."

"Short Straw," Ridley said shooting me an annoyed look. "You didn't know that it was possible for your girlfriend to create thunderstorms, or for somebody to be _this_ good looking until you found out about the Caster world."

"Yes, Demons." A guy said. He has light-brown hair that brushed his shoulders and a mustache goatee combo. He moved forward, drumming his fingers on his black pants. "We are Shadowhunters. We kill demons to keep the world in balance and well, right now, there are more demons coming in than ever before. Gatlin seems to be the center of it."

"Don't be ridiculous!" I protested.

"Ethan, he could be right." Lena chastised. "A lot of crazy things have been going on since I split the Sixteenth Moon, whose to say that it couldn't be drawing demons in?" She looked to the Shadowhunters. "What do we do if we see demons?"

The kid pulled out a piece of paper, scribbling on it. "Call us. I'm Mikey, by the way. This is my twin sister, Mikayla." He held it out to her, but Link snatched it up before she could take it from him. I reminded myself to thank him later for not letting her go near those weapon-toting freaks.

Lena made a noise of irritation and reached up to snatch it from him, but not before she shocked him with through a quick touch.

Link yelped and rubbed his arm, looking like a kicked puppy.

"I'm Lena Duchannes." She held out her hand to the tall boy with the golden eyes.

He tentatively reached out and shook it, like he was afraid she was going to zap him the same way she zapped Link. "I'm Jace Herondale, this is Clary Fray, and Alec Lightwood."

"What kind of activity has been going on in the town?" The young boy asked. "I'm Flynt by the way."

Lena and I exchanged another look.

_Should I tell them?_

_ About Kitchen?_

_ Yeah. I don't know if the way Kitchen has been acting is because its been testy, or if it's because of whatever demonic activity they're talking about. I haven't read hardly anything about demons, but it would make sense to me that their presence messes up Caster magic._

_ Go for it._ I encouraged. _Whatever you think will help us get to the bottom of his mess. _Who knew? Maybe these demons had been what Amma was talking about when she talked about a storm.

"My magic has been acting up lately." Lena admitted. "I don't know if that has anything to do with demons, but that's one of the most noticeable things I can think of right now."

Flynt frowned, a line forming between his eyebrows. Crossing his arms over his chest, he pursed his lips.

"Oh no," the smallest girl drawled. "He's thinking again. Watch out, it could be dangerous."

"Dale, shut it." Mikayla snapped, her patience clearly wearing thin.

Link moved closer to the small girl, his head cocked to the side as a grin stretched over his features. "_You_ didn't help them fight that demon did you? Look at you, you're so tiny!"

The girl set her jaw, her green eyes sliding to the giant dog at her side. In a deep, guttural and foreign language she barked, "_Bledri, etadimitni._."

The long grey and black fur on the dog's back rose, it put its head down and slowly advanced toward Link, its golden eyes focused on him as it growled. It didn't lunge for him, just stood a few feet away and looked terrifying.

Link's face bleached of color and he stepped back to where he had initially stood.

"Dale, stop it." Flynt said waving of the girl. "It would make sense that the demonic activity would mess up a Caster's powers. Demons emit their own kind of energy that would interfere with the energy of a Cast. I'm going to have to spend more time in the library."

"Jace can help you." The red-head named Clary said, nudging the blonde in the side. "He reads constantly, despite what he leads people to believe. Besides, he really believes in the phrase 'know thy enemy'."

The boy who must have been Jace cringed, but nodded in agreement. "Alec will help as well."

Alec, must have been the boy with black hair and blue eyes because he looked startled, "What?"

"You're the one that wanted to come down to crazy town to be with your family. Endless nights in the library ought to do the trick." He smirked.

"You have my number?" Mikey asked, double checking with Lena, who nodded in response. "And I have yours, contact me if you need anything. I'll call in a few days and see if there has been any activity. Let's go, guys."  
I stared after them as they left, Jace really irked me somehow. I wasn't quite sure why. But, before he turned to leave he stared at me, a sly grin stretching over his features before he sauntered off silently with the others.

* * *

_**There is the meeting you all have been waiting for! Don't worry there will be more interaction between them soon enough! If Jace seems a little off to you in this chapter, I'm sorry. I'm trying to restore some of his witty and cocky attitude and with Clary there it's proving to be kind of a challenge. Please tell me what you think!**_

**_XOXO,_**

**_Girlreadsalot_**


	11. Chapter 11

**JACE'S POV:**

The rain poured down outside, cascading down the windowpanes in thick streams. Thunder rumbled softly and lightning flickered, confining the occupants of the institute inside. Like most days the Shadowhunters found themselves sitting around the polished dining room table, usually they chatted, ate, or in this case, played poker.

Jace stared at the cards in his hand, a sly smirk still painted on his face despite the fact the cards he'd been dealt weren't worth a damn. That was part of the game wasn't it? Tricking somebody into thinking you had something when you actually didn't have squat. He had used that tactic a few times in life as well. People would believe anything if you wore the right face, said the right thing.

"I fold." Mikey said, throwing his cards down on the table.

"Me too." Alec said, meeting Jace's golden eyes.

"Read 'em and weep, boys." Clary said, laying all of her cards down the the table, revealing the best hand of the day before letting out an amused chuckled and scooping up the armful of money at the table.

"Damn it." Jace cussed, throwing his cards down. "How do you do that? You beat me every time!" He had been the best poker player when he Alec, Isabelle, and Hodge had played back in New York. Now, he was getting his butt handed to him by a short redhead.

Clary shrugged, "Simon, Luke, and I used to play when my mom wasn't home. I used to beat them too."

Jace slid his chair back and stretched, "I am done. I can't lose anymore money to my girlfriend." He felt Clary's eyes on him as he winked at her and left the dining room, making his way up the stairs toward his temporary bedroom. He was reaching for the doorknob when a voice said, "You can have your money back."

Jace turned, his golden eyes lighting up as Clary padded down the hall towards him. Her red curls in a messy bun, her blue-green tanktop exposing reddened and freckled shoulders from the sun, her shorts fell to mid-thigh.

"I've got plenty more where that came from. It's only a couple of dollars anyways." She was standing close to him now, his body ached for her. They hadn't had any time alone with each other for almost a week, ever since they arrived at the Savanna institute.

She placed a hand lightly on his chest and gazed up on him. "What's the matter? Why are you so tense?"

Jace couldn't find the words to explain to her how much he longed for her touch, for her kisses. He reached down lifting her chin up and pressed his lips against hers with a fevered passion.

Clary have a small gasp of surprise, but quickly took advantage of the kiss by locking her fingers into his blonde hair.

His hand found the bun at the back of her head and gently unwound the hair tie so her red curls fell around her shoulders, the way he loved to see it. Whether she was having a bad hair day or not. This was the Clary Fray he loved.

She brought her small hands up and cupped his face, their mouths working in time.

Jace picked her up and she wrapped her legs around his waist, they were impossibly close to one another. Their kiss picked up in intensity, he bent and placed kisses on her neck but he didn't bite it. He didn't want to mar her perfect skin.

She elicited a gasp and pulled on his hair even tighter, bringing his face back to hers so they could kiss once again.

Jace groaned when Clary bit his bottom lip.

"Ya'll might wanna be careful."

Quicker than anybody though possible, Clary unwrapped herself from Jace and put herself back on the floor, her face flushing crimson. "I—I, uh, we—"

Mikey held up a hand to silence her, grinning slightly. "I get it. You're young and in love. Hell, I was there once...actually, I'm still there. You just gotta be careful, you know. You'll end up in the same boat I'm in. With a baby on the way."

Jace's heart was thudding in his chest, but he kept his composure. Coolly, he said, "Mistakes happen."

"That they do. Although, when that kid asks me if he was planned or a mistake I'm going to tell him he's a surprise. It's better that way."

"What makes you so sure it's going to be a boy?" Clary asked.

Mikey shrugged, "I've just got a feeling."

The three of them stood awkwardly in the hallway for a few moments before Mikey said, "I received a phone call last night from Miss Duchannes. She informed me that her blonde friend had spied a demon roaming the streets of Gatlin last night. Ya'll interested in goin' up there?"

"Are you coming with?"

"Nah, my fiancee is sick, the baby is kickin' up a storm. I'm gonna stay here with her in case she needs anything."

"Yeah, we'll take care of it." Jace said. He looked to Clary, who was still violently blushing. "Let's go find Alec."

"Check in the library." Mikey called after them.

Jace threaded his fingers through Clary's leading her up another flight of stairs to the attic, which housed the library. Things in this institute were far different from the one back in New York. There, the training center was in the attic, and the library was on the main floor. Here, the training center was in the basement and the library was in the attic.

"You're still red." He noted as they climbed the stairs.

"Well, that _was embarrassing._ I don't understand how you can keep your composure like that!"

Jace grinned at her, it was all part of the way he liked to portray himself to those who didn't know him. He liked his image to be cocky, confident, and maybe even a little self-centered. Those who were close enough to him knew better, though. Clary knew better than anybody that Jace was vulnerable, just like everybody else. "Maybe it's because I'm in love and I don't care who knows it."

She smiled at him before reaching for the door knob of the library. "Well, when you put it that way."

They stepped into the library, which was stacked with books upon books, just as many—if not more—than the one in New York. Because the library was in the attic it spanned the entire area of the house, which was massive in itself. Then, there was a balcony that added an extra half to the library that the crowded floor space couldn't provide.

"Alec?" Jace asked, ducking around a bookshelf. He paused for a moment, staring at the binding off the books. He reached up and pulled a volume off the shelf, it was a copy of _A Tale of Two Cities_. It was one of his favorites. He made a mental note to come back and read it when he got the chance, despite the fact he had read it twice already.

"I'm over here!" He heard his _Parabatai's_ voice from a back corner. "It's kind of a tight squeeze."

"You aren't kidding." Jace muttered, having to turn himself sideways so he could fit between a narrow space between two shelves. "Have they ever thought of investing in an addition?"

"We have." Flynt's voice said.

Jace emerged out of the labyrinth of books, Clary's hand tight in his own, as if he were afraid to lose her in the maze of towering shelves. His golden eyes looked up to see Alec and his cousin sitting at a table up on the balcony. "How the hell did you get up there?"

"I flew." Alec said, being a little more sarcastic and sassy than usual.

Flynt straightened up from where he was bent over a large leather-bound volume on the table. "The ladder is to your left."

Jace held the ladder while Clary climbed it, then followed her up. "What have you guys been doing holed up here for hours? You missed lil' miss redhead win endless games of poker."

Alec's blue eyes studied Jace. "We're looking for instances in history where there has been multiple demon attacks and what was done to stop them."

"And?"

"Nothing."

"You mean there isn't another time in history when something like this has happened?"

Alec shook his head. "There's been times where they've been summoned by powerful warlocks, like that time in Idris when Valentine did it. But, not where they're coming into this world on their own accord. We know at one point all—well, most—demons are summoned back to this earth. They have to be extremely powerful to come back on their own."

"The problem is," Flynt said his blue-grey eyes thoughtful, "In order to see if somebody is summoning these demons we're going to have to head underground...into Downworlder territory. We won't exactly have a welcoming party if we show up."

Jace grinned at the thought of entering downworlder territory, the last time he had been in a place with so many downworlders he had injured over half of Luke's werewolf pack.

Alec must've seen Jace's expression because he groaned, "Please don't encourage him. He won't be afraid to go in there alone. He's done it before."

Flynt shot him a startled look. "You have? What?"

"Werewolf pack." Jace said, shrugging. "Do you want to come back to Gatlin with us? Apparently, somebody spotted a demon roaming the streets last night."

Alec stood up, stretching his long frame. "Yeah, I need to get out of this library."

"I'll stay here and keep looking." The younger Shadowhunter said, pulling out a plastic chair and sitting down, shutting the massive book that was already open and exchanging it for another. "I trust you know how to get there?"

"Yes."

* * *

**_I threw in a little bit of Clace in there for you guys (because I assume you ship them as much as I do). _**

**_So many reviews! Thank you all so much! I hadn't understood that I had made so many (well, just a few, actually) mistakes as far as the Caster Chronicles were concerned. I had read the first book when I was a sophomore, the second one at the end of my junior year, and the last two last month, so I don't remember the small details as much. _**

**_Ethan's Eye Color: For some reason I always thought it was brown. I suppose he talked about his eyes maybe once or twice, I didn't remember that they were green._**

**_Ridley's Nicknames: I knew she called people names, I just didn't think that there were specific ones for each person. I suppose I never paid attention which ones she said to whom. Thank you for clearing that up!_**

**_Splitting the Seventeenth Moon: Yeah, I accidentally referred to Lena's sixteenth birthday when she chose if she was light or dark as "splitting the moon" my bad. _**

**_Thank you all for clearing that up for me! It's been a while since I read the first two, so that's why things are kind of a mess there. I really wish I had my own copy of the books. _**

**_Anyways, I'm glad you guys like it!_**

**_XOXO,_**

**_Girlreadsalot_**


	12. Chapter 12

**ETHAN'S POV:**

"Why are we sitting here again?" I asked Lena as I put my arm around her. The hard bleachers were starting to hurt my butt.

"Cheap entertainment?" She offered, staring down at the basketball court, where Link wasn't adjusted to his new quarter-incubus body and was making things look really awkward on the court. He was actually the best member of the team now, which was causing some eyebrows to raise, because Link wasn't that good...ever.

"Oh yeah." I watched Link outrun the other members of the teem by two whole suicides, which didn't sound like much but felt like hell. "I think he's forgetting that he isn't human anymore."

Lena nodded, her head bent over her tattered black notebook, her pen scribbling across the pages. I wasn't sure if she was writing or if she was drawing, but either way I'm sure she was creating something fantastic. She always did.

I shook my head as Link made an almost impossible basket from half-court. "That kid is going to get himself in a hell of a lot of trouble and I'm going to have to be the one to save his ass."

Lena nodded absently, her eyes still on the paper. Then, she looked up, staring at something that down the gym.

_What is it, L_? I kelted, gently stroking a soft strand of her black curly hair.

_They're here and they're coming this way_.

_Who?_ I twisted around so I could try to get a better view of who Lena was talking about but I still didn't see anything, just like the night in the car... _Oh._

"He still can't see you. How do we make him see you?" L paused for a moment, listening to somebody I couldn't see or hear before she said, "Well, it's worth a shot anyway. He isn't exactly a mortal, he's a Wayward." She turned to me, her gold and green eyes bright. "Okay, look there." She pointed to the air directly in front of me. "Now, imagine that the invisibility is like paint, and strip the layers off. You really have to concentrate."

I tried my best but I was having trouble because it was so difficult, it was hard trying to see something that isn't there. After the first few (unsuccessful) attempts I was becoming frustrated, but then I noticed a shimmering in the air. It looked like the heatwaves you saw rolling off the pavement when it was really hot out. "Wait, I see some...shimmering."

_Keep trying, Ethan_.

With Lena's encouragement fresh in my mind, I frowned and tried harder to strip of the layers of glamor on the shimmering stuff, and soon, I was seeing a flickering image of a small girl with red hair flash in and out of the vision. Then, finally I was staring at the three Shadowhunters in front of me. "What are you doing here?" I asked them, looking around to make sure nobody heard me.

"That took long enough," the blonde one drawled, before throwing one leg over the polished bleachers and sitting backwards so he could talk to us. "Now, who saw the demon?"

"Link did." Lena replied, nodding toward the court.

The three shadowhunters turned, to see Link chest-bumping a fellow teammate and accidentally sending him sliding backwards across the floor.

"You're joking." The one with the dark hair said, his blue eyes skeptical.

We shook our heads.

"Jeez," he scratched at the back of his head. "I'm Alec." He held out a gloved hand, and I shook it. "Ethan."

"Clary," the redhead said.

"I am amazing." The blonde said, with a smirk.

Clary scowled at him and elbowed him in the side.

"Ouch, by the Angel! I'm Jace."

I watched as Link took a towel, wiped his face and climbed up the bleachers towards us. "It looks like you got here just in time."

"Hey, did you guys see me? I rocked at practice!" Link said coming up and sitting down on the other side of Lena, who made a face displaying her displeasure of having the sweaty, hulking Link sit next to her. "Speaking of rocking, The Holy Rollers have a gig this weekend and I think we're gonna tear it up."

"You're the one that saw the demon?" Alec asked.

Link nodded, sending sweat droplets splattering onto Lena, who made a sound of disgust and slid further away from him. "It was _huge_ and it was just kinda walkin' around and stuff. Sometimes it'd sniff the air like a dog, but other than that it didn't try to hurt anybody."

"What did it look like?"

"It was kind of like a dog, with the four legs, ya know? Actually, I'm gonna say a bear! Yeah, it was a bear! But, it was like blue-green and had teeth that stuck out of its mouth—even when it was closed! It also, kinda had scales and red eyes."

Jace exchanged a look with Alec, who gave him one back. Both of them pretty much looked like they had no idea what was going on. Which, wasn't comforting in anyway.

"Hold on." Clary said. She turned and dug through a small black bag, pulling out a sketchbook and a set of pencils.

"What are you doing?" Jace asked, puzzled.

"Haven't you ever seen those crime shows where they draw a portrait of the killer?" She asked, not looking up from the paper. She paused for a moment. "Oh...never mind, but hopefully they understand what I'm talking about."

"CSI used to be my mom's favorite." I said grinning.

"Ethan knows what I'm talking about."

"Where are all of these demons coming from?"

"There is so much folklore and theories." Alec explained. "Demons do come from a different realm, that's a fact, but there have never been this many demons in Shadowhunter history that have just randomly appeared on their own. All times somebody has summoned them—opened a portal or doorway, if you will—to get them here. As far as we know nobody has summoned them recently, so that makes us wonder if there's a doorway open. If there is somebody—or something had to be powerful enough to open it. And we need to figure out how to get it shut."

"What has the kind of power to open up a gateway from one realm to another? Just one Caster can't to it on their own...unless..."

_Abraham_. I kelted.

"KFC dude?" Link offered at the same time I had thought it.

Lena nodded.

Jace frowned and leaned forward, clearly intruiged.

"What does fried chicken have to do with this?" Clary asked, puzzled.

"There's this Caster and he's super old and super powerful and super bad." I explained.

"Well, where can we find him?"

I exchanged a look with Lena and Link. "That's the problem. We don't know."

"Alec, where do the scum of the earth usually like to prowl around?" Jace asked, a golden brow raised as a coy look played his features.

Slowly, a grin stretched across Alec's face. "The Downworld."

"Hey!" Clary objected, standing up. "Excuse you, but my best friend happens to be a vampire and my step-father happens to be a werewolf. Watch who you're bashing!"

"You're a Caster," Jace said rising and looking at Lena. "Where is the nearest Downworlder hangout?"

"A what?" Lena asked, frowning, which caused a crease to form between her brows.

"What's a downworlder?" I couldn't help but ask. I'd never heard of anything like it.

"Her? Him?" Jace pointed to Lena than Link. "Somebody who isn't Nephiliam or Mundane."

"It's probably a bar or club where some shady people hang out. It probably looks run down and dilapidated." Clary said. She finished sketching then turned the pad around, revealing a beautiful, but creepy sketch of the demon. "Did it look like this."

"Pretty close." Link agreed. "Although, there was a lot more drool, and it had bigger claws."

Clary whispered and showed the sketch to Jace and Alec, who both said something quietly, and shook their heads at the same time.

Alec and Jace reminded me of brothers, or best friends that hung out all of the time. Kinda like Link and I.

I looked at Link, then to Lena, knowing that they were thinking the same exact thing I was. "In the tunnels."

Immediately, Jace said, "Take us there."

* * *

_**I don't know if the formatting of this chapter is gonna be weird because I added some sentences on the fanfiction website, so I apologize if that happens. Things are starting to get interesting! I can't wait to keep writing. It took me a while to update because I had writers block, but now that we're here we're arriving at a major turning point in the story so things will start to get exciting very, VERY quickly!**_

_**XOXO,**_

_**Girlreadsalot**_


	13. Chapter 13

**JACE'S POV**:

Lena took Jace, Alec and Clary to her home. A large house that appeared to be condemned on the outside, but a gorgeous palace on the inside. Kind of like Taki's, although, the diner looked almost as trashy on the inside as it did the outside, but the food was excellent.

"What is going on here?" Lena demanded, ducking as a plate came flying across the room, whizzing past her head.

A small blonde girl was jumping up, trying to reach a book a suit of armor was keeping out of her reach, her pigtails swishing as she did so. "Give it back, Sir Galahad!" She seemed to get more and more frustrated with each jump.

"_Lena_!" A shriek came from up the stairs.

"Oh no." Ethan said his brown eyes wide as a throw pillow zoomed into the room and hit him in the back of the head.

The large blonde, Link, paled.

A bombshell of a blonde girl came to the top of the stone stairway, wrapped in a towel. Her hair dripping down her back. Her blue eye narrowed as she spied Lena standing in the doorway. "Lena! I've had enough of this stupid house! It took all of my hot water!"

"We're trying to figure it out, Ridley."

"How?" The blonde sneered. She was eyeing Jace up and down like he was covered in chocolate.

Normally, Jace would have flirted shamelessly right back, but that was before he had Clary. Now, he reached out and put an arm around Clary's shoulders, who was gritting her teeth at the wet blonde.

"We're going to the tunnels."

She cocked a blonde brow. "With Hot-Rod and Shrinky Dink protecting you? You don't even you know your way around down there.

"We're going to protect them." Jace said, feeling like he needed to justify his presence.

"Have you ever been down there?"

Jace stifled an eye-roll. No, he'd never been in the Tunnels, but most downworlder hangouts were the same weren't they? Lots of scandal, magic, tricks, and stealing. Feuds between werewolf packs and vampire clans, warlocks seeking money, faeries trying to trick others for cheap entertainment.

"Fine," Ridley huffed. "I'll go get dressed."

"Lena, make it stop!" The small girl shrieked.

Lena grumbled under her breath but twitched her fingers and the knight previously dubbed Sir Galahad froze. "Sorry, Ryan."

"I still can't reach!" The blonde girl said stretching up to try and pry the book from its iron fingers.

"I've got it." Alec and Ethan said at the same time. Both of them paused and shared a wide-eyed gaze at one another.

"Go ahead." Ethan said, flipping his brown hair out of his face. "You're a little bit taller than I am anyway."

Jace watched interested. It was unusual for Alec to be vocal or interact with strange people...well, it _had_ been anyway. Jace knew it had taken Alec a lot of courage to muster up and write letters to Flynt, despite the fact that they were both anonymous to one another for so long. He didn't like to draw attention to himself.

Alec reached up and pried the book out of the knight's metal claws, then crouched down to hand the book to the little girl. "Here you are."

She smiled at him, offering a quick thanks. Her green eyes studied him and his marks before she turned around and ran up the stone stairs, her blonde hair bouncing behind you.

"Alright, let's go."

Jace's golden eyes widen in surprise as Ridley stood at the top of the stairs. Her pink tank top was extremely tight and rose a few inches above her navel, revealing a belly button ring and a tribal tattoo around it. Her miniskirt was just a little too short, and her boots made her legs seem a little too long.

Clary pinched his arm.

Jace turned to her and smiled. "She's got nothing on you."

Clary blushed and smiled at him.

"Where are these tunnels at?" Jace asked walking up the stairs to meet her. "Take us there."

She looked up at him with a hard gaze. "You think you can boss me around because you're some hunky, testosterone-filled Nephiliam? Think again, Pretty Boy."

Jace was aware that the tension between them was thick, but he leaned down and hissed, "I wouldn't be so cocky if I were you. Sure, you can lead us down to the tunnels, but who is the one protecting your mundane ass?"

Ridley snapped her gum and twitched away. "You're lucky Uncle M is still sleeping in his bedroom. The entrance is in his study." She pushed open a heavy door and gestured for them to step inside. "And for the record," she hissed in Jace's ear. "I won't be vulnerable. I have Link to protect me."

The gigantic blonde looked unsure at first, but then grinned and put his arm around her. "Whatever tries to kill you, I'll kill it first, babe."

"Stop calling me that!"

The entrance to the Tunnels was dark and musty, much like the basement back at the institute. Nobody ever wanted to go down there for anything. It even gave Jace the creeps.

Ethan yanked a torch off the wall and held it high enough to light the way.

Jace pulled out a Seraph blade and held it in his hand, his eyes scanning for any signs of something dangerous.

Even down in the tunnels they had their own sky. It was as if they hadn't even left the mortal world. The stars burn just as bright, but the dark was even more ominous. The cobblestones on the street were wet, as if it just rained, and there was a thick fog rolling through.

There was a low grumble and Jace spun around, his eyes scanning for the source of the noise.

Ethan let out a startled yelp before he was flung backwards, onto the hard stone.

"Ethan!" Lena shrieked, looking for the thing that had threw him.

Jace spotted it and exchanged a look with Alec. "Foresaken." He growled.

Clary gripped a knife in her hand, determination glinting in her green eyes, giving the monster a look that made Jace's heart squeeze with pride. She let out a grunt as she threw her knife, striking it in the chest.

"That's isn't going to be enough." Jace and Alec charged it, slashing the Foresaken with their weapons. Clary, right behind them.

And, for the first time in a battle Jace took a step and and watched as Clary did her part. As she ruthlessly sliced the monster to bits until it crumpled to the sidewalk, unmoving.

He walked over to her, hugging her.

"Did I do good?" She panted, slightly out of breath.

"You were..."

"Fierce?"

"Amazing." He kissed the top of her head before turning to the rest of the group. "We should hurry, Foresaken usually like to travel in a pack."

"It's right up here." Ridley didn't seem phased by the appearance of the Foresaken. She was busy inspecting her nail polish for chips. It seemed like she would get along well with Isabelle.

"Are you alright?" Link asked, clapping Ethan on the back. It was obvious that if the two of them had been Shadowhunters they would have been _Parabatai_.

Ethan nodded, looking a little startled and confused. "Let's get out of here."

Ridley had been correct, the Downworlder hangout was just down the street. It was a bumping place that reminded Jace of Pandemonium, but it was obvious that it was uncommon for Nephiliam to be in the bar.

"What exactly are we looking for?" Clary called over the roar of the music to Lena.

"We're looking for somebody who could know information about the Demon Realm."

Jace knew right off the bat who that could have been. Nobody knew more information about the Demon Realm—aside from demons, of course—than one who was half-demon. He walked up to the bar, leaning on it, aware the the werewolves he was leaning between were giving dirty looks. "Excuse me."

"Yeah?" His snake tongue flickered in and out of his mouth as he dried a glass.

"I need to find the oldest warlock in the area."

He nodded his bald head toward the end of the bar. "She's over there. At the very end of the bar."

Jace walked to where the warlock indicated with Lena and Alec behind him. Sitting at the very end of the bar was a young woman, possibly twenty-three years old, with her brown hair falling down past her shoulders, her skin pale ivory, with the exception of black tiger strips along her back and shoulders, revealed by her white tank top. "Warlock?"

She spun around to face them. "What do you want?" She asked, before tipping back the rest of her drink. "I'm a little preoccupied."

"We need your help." Lena said, her green and gold eyes wide.

She threw back her head with a laugh, "I'm sorry, honey. But, you can't afford me."

Lena was staring at the woman's green eyes. "Are you a—a Light Caster? I thought they didn't let—"

Everybody around them went silent, all eyes narrowed at the warlock woman. Who rose from her seat, her green eyes flashing. "I am _not_," At this every bottle and glass sitting behind the bar shattered, the glass raining down on those around them. "A Light Caster. I am a warlock."

The music picked up again and everything seemed to be back to normal.

"We still need your help."

"Sorry, now you really can't afford me." She was gathering her belongings up.

Lena dropped red leather pouch on the bar in front of her. "Try me." She said muleishly.

Without saying another thing the warlock shoved the pouch in her purse. "Oakleigh Cumberwick at your service. Now, what is it that you need?"

* * *

**_Hi Guys! Sorry it has taken me so long to update! I've been working on a personal story and I just had a major character death and I needed time to cope with all of that. Not to mention the fact that I have a job now, so writing is going to take longer than it used to. Don't worry, I'm not going on hiatus, I plan on finishing this story, even though it might take a while. Stick with me! I love all of my readers!_**

**_XOXO,_**

**_Girlreadsalot_**


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